Broken Hearts
by SarahNThatcher
Summary: Makino Tsukushi has been asked to come to Eitoku by Tsukasa's parents for one year. There is a lot on the line and it seems that nothing is what it seems. Chapter 10 is finally up!
1. Who's Makino Tsukushi?

I know I haven't written anything for Hana in a long time. Personally, I didn't think I ever would, but here we are. I really like this idea. It's been in my head for a really really long time. I hope you guys like it. Let me know...

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><p>Chapter One: Who's Makino Tsukushi?<p>

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><p>She sat in the back of the limo silently. She didn't look out the window to watch the scenery pass her by. She didn't watch the TV that was mounted to the side. She didn't even read the magazine that lay open on her lap. No, she just sat looking directly ahead at the black divider thinking.<p>

"There's been a change of plans Makino-sama; we'll be meeting her at the school, instead. Something seems to have come up." The middle aged man that sat in front of her advised. He wasn't all that attractive, but he wasn't ugly or plain either. He seemed very serious and was most likely every effective at whatever he did. He had to be to work for that troll.

She didn't respond. It wasn't as if she had a say in the matter. She hadn't had a choice in any of this. She hadn't asked to be moved to Tokyo or to be enrolled in the overly posh school she was bound to be attending, and she most certainly didn't request to have to deal with the Doumyouji's again. She slipped her hand into her pocket, the first sign of life she'd shown since her arrival, and she withdrew a small phone. She flipped it open and scanned the pictures letting a soft sigh pass her lips.

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><p>Breakfast was already served when he made it into the dinning room and he was about to fire someone for letting his food get cold until he heard the paper rustle to his left. His anger faded to the annoyance that replaced it and he shuffled toward his seat. "What are you doing here?"<p>

Kaede folded her paper and took as sip of her tea before glancing at the scowl greeting her this morning. "Hello to you as well, Tsukasa." She went back to sipping her tea ignoring his question.

"What are you doing here?" He bit out, his tone cold and sharp.

His mother sighed and replaced the cup on its saucer. "Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I have business to attend to at your school today."

"What kind of business?" He questioned suspiciously as he found his appetite gone.

She looked up as Nishida walked into the dinning room with a black portfolio folder in hand. "Excuse me chairwoman, but she's arrived and she's on her way to the school."

"Good." Kaede took the offered folder and stood to leave when Tsukasa also stood.

"Who's on their way to my school?" He reached out and grabbed her arm.

She sighed and handed him the folder. He opened it to see a picture of a brunette with beautiful big doe-like honey brown eyes. The dossier said she was sixteen and that her name was Makino Tsukushi. "Who is she?"

"Her mother was a friend of ours and we're helping her out through a tough time." She took the portfolio back and gave her son a serious look. "She only has one year. Your father promised me that once the years done she can go back to the hole she crawled out of, but for the next 365 days she's more or less my problem, which makes her your problem." She crossed her arms and motioned for him to take a chair. "It would seem, if this morning's greeting was anything to go by, that you don't really like having me home. I don't like it, but I can respect that. If you don't want me here keep her out of trouble. Do you understand?"

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><p>The limo slowed to a stop in front of the school and a few giggly girls stopped to see the passenger, but were left disappointed as a girl stepped out of the back. They whispered quietly as they watched her make her way to the entrance. She had perfectly layered chestnut brown hair that stopped just below her shoulders. She wore a hot pink, orange, yellow, white and black plaid button up tee over a white long sleeve with a hot pink skirt over black leggings and black sneakers. The look was completed with black leather wristbands and a black and pink bowed head band.<p>

The body guard behind her carried her book bag, which was black with different patches for all types of bands and events. The eyes continued to follow her where ever she went, but as she walked through the heavy double doors for the superintendant's office, they all started to guess at who the young woman was.

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><p>Tsukasa's limo pulled up to the front of the school in time to see Akira and Sojiro pull up on the raven's motorcycle. "Yo." The other boys called out when Tsukasa didn't seem like he was going to say anything.<p>

"Yo." He bit out half heartedly. He'd had a lot to think about with his mother's ultimatum hanging over his head. How was he supposed to befriend some chicken head he'd never met and keep her out of trouble?

Sojiro walked over to Tsukasa's right, while Akira took the left. "He looks broken." He laughed when the taller young man didn't respond.

"Maybe he got lucky and hasn't recovered yet." Akira added thoughtfully, but then shook their heads dismissively.

"He seems deep in thought." Rui said strolling up to his friends with his hands in his pockets. "What'cha thinking about 'Kasa?"

Said boy blinked as if realizing his friends were there. "The old hag says she'll basically get out of my hair and let me make my own decisions until I take over the company, as long as I keep this stupid girl out of trouble."

Sojiro smiled at the prospect of his friend interacting with a girl on a regular basis. "Who is she?"

"Some friend of the family." He fished in his pocket for the picture from the dossier and handed it over to his friends only to hear them gasp.

"Dude, she's hot." Akira looked up incredulously at the scowl pointed at him. "The bat wants you to babysit her?"

"Maybe it's a trap, or a backdoor arranged marriage." Rui glance at the photo, but then did a double take. "That's Makino Tsukushi." No one seemed to notice the smirk that lifted his lips momentarily.

"Yeah, so?" Tsukasa knew the name was familiar, but he supposed it had to do with the family friend thing.

"She's the heiress to Takekado Worldwide." Rui answered smugly. The three other boys looked back at the picture as if it would give them some more answers and Tsukasa snatched it back and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Whatever, it's just a year and I doubt it's an arranged marriage, because the hag didn't sound like she was too thrilled to be taking care of her."

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><p>Please read and review. Should I continue? Does it sound promising? Does it seem already done? Let me know.<p> 


	2. She's A Powerhouse

Wow! Way to make me feel like my story sucks. Thank you to Yasmi-Cullen-Salvatore for my lone review. It's been a really long time since I've had a story so badly received. LOL. Anyway, I'm going to just tell myself that it's because the first chapter was short. Sure! That's it...I didn't give enough of a reason to review. So here's chapter 2. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and btw Yasmi, don't let anyone give you flack about your English skill. There are people who have lived in america all their lives and can't construct a coherent sentence.

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><p>Chapter 2: She's A Powerhouse<p>

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><p>Kaede was already seated talking with the superintendant when she walked in. "Excuse me." She stood from the seat and closed the distance between them quickly throwing her arms around the child in an unreciprocated and awkward embrace. "You've grown so much since I saw you last. You're an absolute beauty, just like your mother."<p>

"Thank you." Tsukushi offered blandly just saying enough to not seem retarded before she took a step out of the older woman's reach. Space made her comfortable and even though it was seen as rude, she could handle that. After all, most things done in high society would be interpreted as rude.

"This is Superintendent Kobayashi." Kaede motioned to the mousey little bespectacled man behind the desk and then faced Makino and straightened her shoulders and tugged at the sleeves as if the wrinkles that had set in while she rode to the school would be offensive to the man. It took all of Tsukushi's will not to bat the woman's hands away.

"This is Makino Tsukushi. Please take care of her as if she were a Doumyouji, I expect great things from this one." She smiled, but there was no cheer in her eyes. That smile had been a threat, make sure she does well or I'll have your head and your job.

Kobayashi gulped and smiled timidly himself saying that he would do anything she said. After all, the Doumyouji's practically owned Eitoku with all the money they funded to keep their son enrolled even though he never went to class and was as violent toward the students as he was the faculty. "We will have to request that she wear the uniform."

"I won't wear the yellow blazer, but I'll wear the rest." Tsukushi kept her stare blank as she watched the man fidget uncomfortably.

"Of course." He smiled and wrung his hands nervously. "That's all I ask. I'll advise the teachers." He handed her a folder with her schedule and a map. "I'm sure your stay at Eitoku will be wonderful." He bowed deeply and Tsukushi bowed as well, but not as low.

She and Kaede made it out the doors and the red head looked down at the younger all signs of warmth gone. "Stay out of trouble, do you here me? I'm serious, I want you gone ASAP." With that she spun on her heel and made her way down the hallway.

"Whatever." Tsukushi mumbled as she looked at the time on her phone, it told her she only had a few minutes left to her morning classes and it didn't make sense to interrupt everything to sit there for an hour or so. She pulled out the map and saw the cafe was opened now and it wasn't that far off. She decided to sit in there until she could decide what to do next.

As she made her way down the hall she could hear a growing commotion. Two girls ran past her talking about a red card or something and she wondered if it was some kind of indoor soccer game. She followed the cheering and found a crowd of loud teenagers cheering at something, but she couldn't see around them, so she pushed her way into the middle in time to see a wimpy red headed kid, maybe a freshman, being beaten by six other kids.

Was this what they were cheering for? "What the hell is going on?" She called out authoritatively. Without pause she walked past the boys that had stopped with their attack and over to the one curled up in a ball to protect what was left of his dignity. "Can you walk?" When he realized someone was talking to him and not hitting him he looked up timidly. She smiled gently. "Can you walk?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" One of the boys called out, finding his voice.

"I'm taking him to the nurse." She answered glaring the boys down. "Wanna stop me?"

"Listen we have permission-" He was cut off when she stood up and got in his face.

"Broken nose, dislocated shoulder. Your friend over there is going to get a broken leg and probably tear his ACL from the impact. Two of your other friends will get concussions, but the last two will run away from the fear of what happened to you."

He was about to ask her what she was talking about when she reeled back and head butted him in the nose with a loud crack. She grabbed his arm as the kid next to her attacked with his bat. She kicked out at the kid's shin breaking both bones and knocking him to the grown screaming, not noticing when his bat swung at his friends shoulder dislocating it from the socket. Two of the kids ran while the other two tried to double team her only to have their arms pulled hard causing them to hit their heads against each other.

"Anyone else?" She looked around to see that most of the girls looked aghast at the sight in front of them, but other than that there didn't seem to be any takers.

"I thought you're not supposed to use Karate to injure people." She heard a familiar voice call out over the buzz of the crowd and turned, for the first time since she could remember she smiled brightly and ran toward the tall young man, pausing a second in thought before jumping in his awaiting arms. No one seemed to notice except Rui, who frowned slightly.

"Rui!" She was so happy to see him.

He held her close and kissed the top of her head. "I've missed you Tsukushi." The embrace was quick and ended abruptly when she started to claw out of his grasp, but he let her down and settled for a hand affectionately on her head, until she took a step back stealing that from him too.

Everyone stood and watched completely shocked to see the usually apathetic and cold Rui be so affectionate to this new rowdy and violent girl. No one seemed as surprised about the new development than Tsukasa. He didn't know what to make of this girl, but he knew he didn't like her.

"What the hell, Rui? You're cheating on Shizuka with this?" Tsukasa's accusation bit at Rui's good mood, but he didn't jump at the bait. He knew his best friend was territorial and didn't like strangers; forget that his mother had told the kid to befriend the girl.

Rui spun the girl around and draped his arm around her neck, ignoring how she bristled at his touch, and bent over to place his chin on her shoulder. "Tsukushi and I go way back. She used to be in love with me." Said girl blushed brightly pushing the handsome young man away.

"Says you." She crossed her arms trying to seem tough, but the pink in her cheeks betrayed the truth in his words.

Akira and Sojiro laughed and walked over to introduce themselves. "Rui, it was very naughty of you to keep such a beautiful friend hidden." Sojiro gushed as he took her hand as if to kiss it, but it was promptly pulled away with a glare.

"Enough with the fluff and stuff." She shooed them away, which just proved to make them laugh harder. "It's nice to meet you guys and good to see you again Rui, but there's this kid that needs to go to the nurse." She turned around to look for the kid, but he wasn't there. In fact most of the crowd had dispersed and were trying to act like they weren't watching from a distance.

"What's your issue?" Tsukasa cocked an eyebrow at her.

She looked at him and annoyance was clear in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You just took down four guys like they were made of paper. What the hell is wrong with you? You're not me; you can't just get away with shit like that. Are you looking for trouble?" He was glaring now and practically in her face.

She scoffed at the question, but didn't back down from the challenge. "You want the short version or the long? Short version is my mom died and I killed my uncle. Tsubasa-ji says that if I stay out of trouble for one year I can go back to my life and live it how I see fit, but if I get into trouble, or if I'm in the papers for anything more than a slow news day, I have to move into the New York mansion and live there indefinitely." She paused and took a step forward as if to further his challenge. "But to answer your question, no, I wasn't looking for trouble. I just don't like a bully."

A chill seemed to run down Tsukasa's spine and it burned a fire in his stomach setting all the butterflies on a frantic flutter looking for escape. "I guess ... I'll help you ... I'll help you stay out of trouble then."

Tsukasa puffed out his chest proudly as he stepped in front of his friends and called out to the remaining kids in the cafeteria. "Hey, pass this along to everybody you know. You are to respect Makino Tsukushi as if she's one of the F4. If I hear that anyone has pissed her off or disrespected her you'll have to deal with all of us."

The kids dispersed with the new gossip that they had to spread. Tsukushi was a little confused and Sojiro pinched her cheek. "You're so cute." He cooed making her blush and swat him away. "We're the F4 and no body messes with us."

"Anyway," Akira reached up and stretched his arms, "let's get out of here and celebrate. We haven't had a chick in the F4 since Shizuka."

Tsukushi pushed out of their grasp and grinned politely as she started to make her escape. "You guys go without me, I've got afternoon classes." She waved the peace sign and turned, only to be grabbed by her waist and carted away by strong arms.

Tsukasa had a deep blush as he walked away with a struggling brunette on his shoulder. "It wasn't a request. We're going out to party and you're the guest of honor."

He almost dropped her when she pinched him hard on his side. "Let me go, you jerk! You're going to get me in trouble." He tossed her to the ground and she landed on her feet in a crouched position.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tsukasa screamed back. "Who the hell do you think is going to give you trouble when you're with me? The teachers are too scared of me to say anything. You'll be fine." He pushed past her and out the doors.

Rui placed his hands on her shoulders, not missing that she was shaking, and pushed her into following them. "He's right. There's nothing to worry about."

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><p>Well, there you have it. As always, please read and review and since I forgot at the top of the chapter and on chapter one for that case... I own nothing and gain nothing from writing this story. I am but a humble psychopath that gets therapy out of causing issues in fictional people's lives. Thank you for reading.<p> 


	3. What's Your Issue?

Hey HYD fanverse! I'd like to thank the awesome reviewers from last chapter: Zerolover1211, Yasmi, welcome back :) , Rubella_Ventus, and Myth. YOU wish you could beta? That's my line! I'm still glad you have enough time to read my ramblings.

To everyone else reading thank you for doing so and don't be shy... I'm sure you have very interesting (not mean please) comments in you... somewhere.

Here is Chapter 3. I'm trying to update every Wednesday and Saturday, but that might be moved to Thursday because that's my new day off.

I would like to make an important note about this story. I feel that although some of the themes might be racy, they are not adult themes only. I feel that if Dawson's Creek can show a character using E and almost dying I should be albe to label my story T. I also feel that if Buffy can show girl on girl full frontal grinding action, I should be able to rate my story T. If Degrassi can show a kid killing students in his HS and Drake can get shot... I should have rated my story K+.

So, there you have that. Thank you, on with the story.

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><p>Chapter 3: What's Your Issue?<p>

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><p>The club was dimly lit, but the ambiance added to the slightly topical motif. There were palm trees in the corners and vines etched on the light green walls. She could tell that with the strobe light going and some louder music flowing through the speakers, this was probably the go to place to party. However, since it was just after 2 in the afternoon, she wasn't surprised to see a thin turn out at the bar.<p>

Akira had a blonde cougar all over him and Sojiro was in the booth right next to his with a girl on each arm. Tsukasa sat nursing a rum and coke as he glared at Rui and Tsukushi's witty banter. Every time his best friend leaned forward to whisper in her ear he clenched his fists and every time she grinned it made his heart flutter, but that feeling was quickly burned with a wave of jealousy. He just didn't know what he was jealous about. Was it because Rui was happy with someone other than Shizuka? Was it because Rui could make Tsukushi smile and she wouldn't even give him a minute of her time?

"Hey, Makino." Tsukasa didn't wait for her to answer before he stood and walked over to her side of the table. "Let's dance." He started to walk away when he heard her decline. "What do you mean, 'no thank you?'"

She looked up and tried not to match his glare, but he'd been irritating her all day with his sour attitude and now he thought he was a cave man or something, because here he was ordering people around. "It means that I'd rather sit here. Thank you."

He felt like a fool and he wasn't going to sit back down after that rejection, he'd look like a total ass. He had two options leave or dance, and he wasn't going to leave her alone with Rui, he'd probably try to sleep with her. He took a deep breath and slid his hand roughly though his curls as he tried to trample down the twisted feeling in his gut that was leading him toward anger. He took hold of the top of her arm and practically yanked her out of her chair. "Come on, it's just one dance."

She wasn't expecting it and found herself pushing against his chest hard, knocking him back into a quick stumble that he recovered from quickly. "What the hell is your problem?" They both yelled in unison, causing Rui to jump to his feet in case a fight broke out. Tsukushi rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else. She collected her things and started to walk out, but the Doumyouji heir hadn't had his say. He grabbed her wrist and she swung around and slapped him across the face. "Don't touch me!"

"You know what; fuck you and your issues. I tried to be nice to you and you're a goddamned psycho. You can stay and whore out with Rui if you want to, I'm out of here." With that he walked out of the club still holding his face. Rui and Akira ran after him to try and do some damage control while Sojiro tried to calm their newest "member."

Tsukushi stood still as he yelled at her. She wasn't really hearing him, but every word resounded in her head. It wasn't his voice. That wouldn't have hurt. She could hear every word said in another's voice. The voice that haunted her nightmares and plagued her even after his death. She could hear him yelling and sounding disgustingly gentle. She wanted to scream. She wanted to block out the sound, but she couldn't.

She flipped out her cell phone and called the only number on the list. "Nishida, have someone pick me up from Bali Heat." She could hear him talking to someone in the background and knew what they were saying. "I don't care if it's on a unicycle, I need to get out of here and I can't ride with Doumyouji." He assured her that he'd have someone there in a few minutes and she shut the phone.

"You don't have to leave." The raven tried to assure her. "He's just like that sometimes. He's like a big three year old. He throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. He'll be back in a few minutes and be just fine."

"I'm sorry." He sounded so distant as she pushed past him and toward the exit. Outside Rui was pleading with Tsukasa to do something, but she ignored them. A black town car slid up in front of the club and Rui blocked her entrance.

"Don't go. We were having fun." He smiled and took her headband off of her hair and putting it in his own. "I haven't seen you in like 8 years and you're going to bail after just a few hours." He looked up over at Tsukasa. "Do you want an apology? He'll apologize."

Tsukushi shook her head with a sigh. "No, he isn't to blame. He lacked finesse, but ultimately he was just trying to have a good time." She bowed deeply, confusing the boys there. "I'm sorry for disrespecting you. I shouldn't have laid my hands on you. Please forgive me." She turned back to Rui and wrapped her arms around his waist. "We'll see each other tomorrow." With that she walked around him and waved goodbye to Akira as she slipped into the car.

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><p>The ride to her apartment seemed to take agonizing hours. She could feel her uncle beside her every step of the way. "You're worthless." She could hear him say. "No one will ever love you." She lowered her head as she tried to even her breathing so she wouldn't pass out like she usually did when she had panic attacks like this.<p>

When the car stopped she fled the vehicle before the driver could open the door. She dug in her backpack as she waited for the elevator to open and take her to her floor. She found her eyes, but her pills were no where to be found and all she could do is hope they were with the rest of her stuff. The lobby was brightly decorated in different shades of creams and browns, but all she saw the blue. The dark blue of his training gi, the blue of his dojo, his icy blue eyes.

She pushed past the young men that walked out of the elevator and started pounding on the button for the third floor. She held onto the raining until her knuckles turned white, but it didn't make the ride any faster. When the doors slid open she ran down the hall and fought with the keys until it finally clicked over. She made her way through the small apartment looking for the bathroom. She rummaged through the medicine cabinet, but her anti-anxiety pills weren't there either.

She was about to scream as she fell to her knees. She could feel his filthy hands all over her. She started to dry heave as her body responded to the sensations. It was almost too much for her to deal with and she could feel herself slipping away. She crawled back her bed room and pulled at her suitcase until it fell off of the bed. She opened the smallest pouch and pulled out her make up kit. She had to fight her shaking fingers as she pulled the zipper open and dumped out the contents. She flipped open the only black compact and took a few quick breaths as she contemplated the thin silver razor blade that had been tucked under the power puff.

She closed her eyes and tried to control herself, but it only made her heart beat faster with thoughts of him. She bit her lip as she raised the sleeve of her left arm and unbuckled the leather strap at the wrist revealing the angry scars that lay hidden underneath. She lifted the blade to the inside of her forearm and dragged it lightly on the skin so a thin red line could allow a little of her blood to flow. She had six matching lines minutes later, some deeper than the others, none close enough to a vein to cause any real damage, but enough to help you sleeplessly pass out.

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><p>Tsukasa didn't stay at the club much longer; with Tsukushi gone he wasn't really in the mood. Which kind of pissed him off because he'd always enjoyed spending time with his friends, but some how it just wasn't the same without the brunette there.<p>

He sat in his room alone, just staring at the ceiling, thinking. He'd been doing a lot of that lately. He pulled the picture out from his pocket and looked it over pensively. It was cool that she had her own style. She sounded really smart as she talked with Rui, mostly because she had an opinion about everything he had to say. She had a polished way about her, like Shizuka, but a temper a lot like his own. She was strong and no nonsense, but knew when to take the blame and apologize. 'She is pretty.' He blushed at this thought. 'Not Tsubaki pretty, no, but she was definitely on any guy's top 5.'

That thought made that feeling of jealousy burn again. Rui seemed to like her. It wouldn't be long before other guys put their fear aside to try and date her. He sat up and chucked a pillow across the room with a growl. He threw himself back on the bed frustrated that this girl had him tied in knots.

He heard his phone ringing in his pocket and slid his finger across the screen to answer. "What do you want Rui?"

He heard a slight chuckle on the other line and it only proved to irritate him. He didn't know if he liked this happy Rui. He missed the lazy yawning one he was used to. "You should be nicer to people that call with gifts." Tsukasa rolled his eyes at the sunny disposition. "You like Tsukushi, it was written all over your face. You know, it was the first time I've ever seen you get worked up over a girl, so I'm going to help you."

"What are you talking about, Rui? I don't like anything about her." His own denial ate at him, but there wasn't a chance he'd admit to the accusation.

"Good, so then I'll date her." Rui could here his best friend gagging on his pride. If he knew anything about Tsukasa, he knew when he was interested in something, and he was very interested in the volatile brunette.

"Fuck you. How are you going to help me?" He clenched his teeth as laughter erupted on the other line.

"I told you we go way back. Her uncle was Takekado Hiro; he trained all four of us at one time or another in self defense. I was just the lucky one that by the time I got to train under him Tsukushi was his apprentice. It's true, I haven't seen her in like eight years, but she's still into a lot of the same stuff. I'm going to help you impress her and show her you're not the jerk she thinks you are."

"I'm Doumyouji Tsukasa; I don't need to impress some girl." He retorted back in a conceited tone.

"Yeah, well she isn't "some girl." She's the girl and she isn't impressed but the Doumyouji name. She won't appreciate anything you buy her or anywhere you take her, because she can do it for herself if she wants it. What will make a mark on her is if you make an effort to get to know her. Did you notice any of the bands she had on her bag?" When all he heard was silence he sighed. "She likes music, a lot, bands like Orange Range and 3Oh!3. She used to be into ice skating and penguins. If you talk about any of this stuff tomorrow she'll probably start to warm up to you."

Tsukasa scoffed at the information as he got off the bed and headed out of the room. "Like I said, I don't need your help, because I don't like her, but thank you anyway." He ended the call and ran down the stairs. The first maid he passed he ordered to get his car ready. He pulled up the browser on his phone, where the hell was he going to find an ice rink in the middle of summer.

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><p>Another Note...<p>

Please do not think that because Tsukushi is a cutter that I recommend or even agree with the practice. Personally I'm not a cutter. I'm not into pain or anything remotely crazy... I have kids that's my idea or self inflicted torture. If you are seriously thinking about hurting yourself please seek help. Talk to someone. Anyone. People on the subway, people passing in the street. If you really have no one to turn to, go into a laudramat. There is always someone bored enough in there willing to hear you out. If you have absolutely no one else you can PM me. I am always willing to lend an ear or an eye. At least I have insight and I won't judge you... to your face. Don't you feel better already?


	4. She's Not What She Seems

What's up yo, thank you for coming back. I'd like to remind everyone that I don't own Hana Yori Dango or any of its versions or the manga or anime. I'm am just a poor girl from a poor family... I also don't own any rights to Queen's music... not that anyone would have put the reference together.

First I'd like to thank the reviewers from last chapter: Zerolover1211 and Tsubame O1O4. (sorry my zero button doesn't work)

You guys rock. I won't keep you any further. You're here for an update. Go for it, enjoy.

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><p>Chapter 4: She's Not What She Seems<p>

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><p>Heavy, slightly tentative footfalls told her that someone was not only in her apartment, but that they were looking around for something. She tried to lift her head off the floor so she could see her intruder, but it felt like lead. The sounds stopped at the door just out of her line of sight.<p>

Suddenly a masculine sigh seemed to echo in the quiet room. The footsteps came closer and a pair of expensive shoes and sharply pleated suit pants came into view. She could feel strong arms pick her up like a bride and carry her to the bed.

"It's not what it looks like." Her voice sounded so weak and pathetic, just like she felt.

She could see her intruder was the young man from the limo this morning and she was disappointed that she didn't remember his name, but it was so common and unassuming that it wasn't worth remembering. He cleared his throat as if he had something to say, but remained quiet.

Once on the bed she looked at the clock on the nightstand, it was just after 7PM. She'd been out for about five hours. She bit out a groan, she'd be lucky if she could get an hour of sleep tonight after such a long nap. A thought crossed her mind as realization dawned on her. "I couldn't find my medicine, do you know what happened to it."

Confused brown eyes met hers as he returned from the bathroom with a first aid kit. "Medicine?"

"I had anti-anxiety pills in my bag. My stuff was put away for me, but I don't know where they put them. That's why I had to cut myself." She looked away slightly before glancing down at the thin, angry, slightly scabbing lines on her forearm.

The young man sighed and pulled out his cell phone. "No, I'm sorry, Makino-sama, I wouldn't know. I didn't put your things away, but I will call the maid that did." He balanced his phone to his ear as he used the disinfectant to clean her arm and wrap it in clean gauze.

She could hear him talking, but could focus on listening. All she could think was that she wanted him to stop touching her. It was a little voice in the back of her head telling her that he was too close, but she tried to stamp it out because he was just trying to help her. "I know you work for Doumyouji-san, but can you please not tell anyone about this." She looked away bashfully. "I only have a year and I know I could've made it if I had my medicine."

He watched the shame on her face. It showed that she was near tears. It broke his heart and he wondered what she could've gone through to want to end her life and hurt herself so badly. Hesitantly, he nodded. "I'll keep this between us for now, but I'm going to keep tabs on you. If I see new marks, I'll have to let Doumyouji-sama know."

"Thank you, that's all I can ask for."

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><p>It took almost an hour to get that piss ant Nishida to give him her address. He was surprised to know that she lived in the athletic dorms set aside for winter Olympic participants. He ignored the whispers of the girls in the hallway and their insipid giggling. He pushed the call button and pulled out his phone when three quick beeps advised him of his alert. -Everything has been set up.- He smiled at the text message as he stepped onto the now open elevator.<p>

The ride was quick and smooth enough, but as the doors opened he was startled to see Nishida's assistant standing there. "D-Doumyouji-sama." He looked like it took effort to spit out.

"What are you doing here?" Tsukasa didn't really care, he just thought it odd.

It was a direct question, but the young man seemed to be mulling it over. "Makino-sama needed her uniforms brought to her."

The young heir grew tired of the conversation and pushed past him. "Whatever."

"Sir," he stepped in front of the curly haired raven earning himself a growl, "she said she was going to bed for the night. Maybe it would be better to let her rest."

Tsukasa leaned forward in the assistant's face and snarled. "If you ever try to tell me what to do again, they won't be able to find your body to bury it."

With that he pushed past the frozen man before knocking on the door he'd been looking for. It took a few minutes of his fist rapping on the door for it to be opened, welcoming him with a glare. "What do you want?'

"Is that the way you greet guests?" He rolled his eyes and pushed past her into the apartment. He looked around the small quarters with quirked eyebrow. "This place is the size of my bathroom."

Tsukushi closed the door with a sigh. "Well, let's keep this brief then." She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"I decided to take you out and show you around." He smirked as if he expected her to fawn over the idea.

Anger flashed in her eyes before she pushed off of the door. "Whatever." She muttered and went to grab a sweater since Tsukasa was wearing a light coat.

Doumyouji grinned excited that he hadn't had to fight her about it. "Aren't you going to change those stained clothes?"

Makino looked down at her clothes and saw that there were brownish red drops and smears on her sleeve and skirt. With an aggravated groan she pulled her shirt over her head and pulled her skirt and tights off leaving her in pair of black and pink striped matching bra and panties. She made her way into the kitchen to dispose of the soiled articles.

Tsukasa nearly fainted at the sight of the nearly naked girl. His face heated just as quickly as his groin and he had to look away to try and avoid anymore embarrassment. "Ever heard of modesty?" He hissed at her.

She took one glance at her state of undress and shrugged. "It's no different from wearing a bikini at the beach." She looked at his blushing face. "What, do I make you uncomfortable?" She walked up to him with a look of pure amusement in her eyes. She leaned into his personal space and tipped toed so she could whisper in his ear. "Did you want me to put some clothes on, or take more off?" She laughed as Tsukasa pushed her roughly, his face as red as a candy apple.

"Like I'd sleep with a whore." He accused angrily. The amusement was gone immediately and she slapped him across the face, hard enough for his head to reel back.

"Like I'd sleep with a Doumyouji! You don't know anything about me." She ground out, as if the thought alone left a bad taste in her mouth, the fire in her eyes startled him a bit. "Just do us both a favor and get the fuck out." She stomped to her room pushing him on her way into the room.

Tsukasa stood there dumbfounded. He'd never had a girl, other than his sister, lay a hand on him and she hadn't just done it once, but several times today. He was beside himself with confusion. He wasn't a masochist by any means, but there was something about her absolute disinterest in him that sparked his own interest. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, she'd just insulted him and his family. "You're the one that was all over me." He called back bitterly.

She stepped out of her room and her irritation that he was still there was clearly visible. "IT WAS A JOKE YOU PRUDE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

His cheeks burned as he took in the sight before him. She was truly beautiful. Her hair was slightly wild from her agitation and she had come out wearing a form fitting light blue tank and darker blue shorts. She was toned in all the right places. Her legs had scars and bruises, but they looked like they'd been sculpted by a master artist. He let his eyes wander a bit more and that's when he'd seen the bandage on her forearm. "What happened to you?" He asked pointedly.

The frustration of the moment made her look icy. She stalked over to the front door and opened it. "Mind your own business and just leave."

"You tell me I don't know anything about you in one breath and to mind my business with the next. You're a hypocrite! You say that you'd never sleep with a Doumyouji, but my name doesn't define me. I'm more than that, but you wouldn't know that because you don't know anything about me."

"Think what you want about me, but do it somewhere else." She motion for him to leave and he rolled his eyes and shook his head disappointedly.

"You're more trouble than I signed up for." He muttered more to himself than anything, but she heard it nonetheless. He was pounding on the down sensor when he felt her push his shoulder to get his attention. He turned to yell at her, but the venom directed toward him almost made him shrink back.

"What do you mean by that?" No reply. "Was it your father?" Still no reply, just a blank face. "You're mother." She seemed to think about it for a second and then she let out a yell that had more than one person opening their door to see what was going on. "You tell that bitch that I'm calling Tsubasa-ji tonight! You tell her this is interference and it goes against the rules." She yelled again and pushed him in her anger. "What the fuck were you supposed to do? Get a rise out of me? Get me to snap? Tell that bitch she's not winning. I'm not going to New York. I'm not going to be his prisoner! "She looked like she was going to cry, but he couldn't move to console her, he was too shocked by her outburst. He didn't know what was going on. That dark, cold look was glaring through him again. "If you ever come near me again they won't find enough of your body to bury. If you doubt me, ask your father what I'm capable of." With that she turned and walked back to her apartment.

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><p>Well there you have it. Chapter 4... Please R&amp;R ... should I make the chapters longer and update once a week or are these short chapters fine. I wanted the shorter than I normally post bc I wanted to update frequently, but I didn't plan on this being a long fic anyway. let me know...


	5. You Wanna Pick a Fight?

Hello folks. Here we are with chapter 5 already. Like I said my off day has been changed to Thursday, not that I will assume it affects you guys too much. Thanks again to the reviewers of the last chappy: Yasmi and Zerolover1211. I would also like to give a shout out to the people who have this story on alert.

Standard disclaimers apply.

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><p>Chapter 5: You Wanna Pick a Fight?<p>

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><p>The morning had been exceedingly difficult for her today. She'd muscled her way through somehow, but it wasn't even nine yet and she had yet to step foot in a classroom. She blearily walked down the corridor, ignoring the soft whispers and the immature giggles that would irrupt as she passed.<p>

It was like the whole school was following her to her locker. They weren't even being discreet about it now. They stood and blatantly watched, even when she turned to glare at them, they didn't have the decency to look away embarrassed at being caught.

She could hear the collective breath of the student body being held as she opened the small steel door, and was shocked into silence as little penguin plushies started to tumble out of the confines of the locker. She was so confused her previous lethargy forgotten and she turned around to look at the crowd around her for some answers, but they looked just as lost, if not more so.

Getting absolutely no help from these idiots, she spun around to see if there was a note or an explanation. She rummaged past all the little plush toys to a larger penguin stuffed uncomfortably in the back with a single rose between his bent beak and webbed feet. A note pinned to his chest.

-I'm sorry for everything. I don't want you to see me as Doumyouji Tsukasa. I just want to be Tsukasa to you. I wasn't trying to get to know you because of my parents. They only asked me to make sure you didn't get into trouble. Now I don't know where this animosity comes from, but can we please try again? Can we be friendly at least?-

She blushed at the emotion and sentiment behind his words. Maybe she'd been too rash the day before. The boys did say he wasn't really into strangers, and he had made an effort to be nice, even if it had been very demanding. She smiled at that thought. 'What Doumyouji isn't demanding?'

The bell rung, signifying that the school day had begun. Roused from her thoughts, she picked up the few escapee penguins from the floor and stuffed them in with their friends and closed the door. She rounded the corner to her first class when she bumped into a toned chest, strong arms flying out to steady her.

"Tsukasa!" She called out, more surprised than anything. She looked around, but didn't see the other three amigos anywhere.

"Did you get my gift?" There was a tint of pink that dusted his cheeks and Tsukushi found that she rather liked this insecure side of him. She steeled herself to the warm and fuzzy feelings fluttering in her stomach.

She blinked a few times thinking of something mean spirited to say, but she couldn't be mad anymore. It's like she knew she wanted to hold a grudge, but he'd given her penguins for crying out loud. Not to mention the rose, because a whole bouquet would have been to many, but that one rose was the perfect amount of romantic.

"Yeah." She nodded sheepishly, keeping her eyes on the floor for fear of what she might find in his. She then realized that he still had a firm hold on her shoulders. He'd been holding her for the last few minutes and she hadn't even bristled or tensed at his touch. She couldn't wrap her mind around that. She didn't like to be touched. Not since her uncle had she been able to stomach even the slightest grazes against her skin and now this boy, a Doumyouji at that, was touching her and she hadn't even asked him to stop.

"Are you even listening to me?" She looked up when she heard his soft chuckle. He held her at arm's length and had bent to look her in the eye.

Startled, she let out a quick gasp and stepped out of his reach. The bell sounded, announcing first period and she looked up as if the sound was tangible. "I'm sorry, Doumyouji-san, but I'm late to class." She brushed past him quickly and ran down the corridor wishing she knew where her first class was.

She made a quick right around one of the corners and stopped to catch her breath. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she couldn't fathom why. She placed a hand there, as if to steady the pace, but nothing helped. It was sudden, unexpected, and a long time overdue, but she laughed. More of a breathy chuckle at first, but it soon turned into full whole hearted laughter.

"I don't think I've ever heard you laugh." She spun around to see marble eyes looking back at her. "It suits you."

"Rui!" She punched him lightly on the arm, her fit of laughter subsiding to a soft smile. "You startled me."

He leaned his head back against the wall as if in deep thought. "I don't know or care what made you happy enough to laugh..." He pushed off the wall and placed one hand behind her head and kissed her forehead, not missing when she fought back the tense reflex she'd been so accustomed to. "If I would have known what he was doing to you..." His voice grew cold and bitter. "I would have killed him myself."

Those few words proved to suck the life out of any jovial mood that might have set in. "Rui..." She hung her head, because there was nothing more she could say. "I... I have to get to class."

"I'll walk you there." Came his lazy replay as he shoved his hands in his pockets and slid into step beside her. They walked in silence until he noticed that she was looking through the map for guidance. "You're in 2A, aren't you?"

She looked up puzzled. "I'm in room 194. The map says that it's on the other side of the GYM. I think. This map doesn't really make any sense." She held the paper at arms length and twisted it this way and that trying to decipher its code.

Rui thought quietly as he mulled the information over as he continued to where he knew her class should be. "Well..." He stopped in from of the room with the tab noting that it was the classroom of 2A. "Here we are."

"It doesn't say room 194 though." She looked into the small window tentatively, but Rui slid the door open knocking her slightly off balance.

As soon as his head had peeked in the room the girls had started giggling and talking, not bothering to hush their voices. The teacher, a well dressed forty-something brunette, shot them a dark glare to warn them to be quiet before she looked over at the sound of the door. "Hello, this is Makino Tsukushi..." He said pushing said girl into the room. "I'm sorry she's late, but she was needed for F4 business." The teacher removed her glasses from her frail nose and gushed at the sight of the powerful and attractive young male and beautiful female with him.

"Of course, no problem at all." She walked over to Tsukushi and smiled warmly. "Ohayou, Makino-san, my name is Sato Ami and you can introduce yourself another time, okay. For right now though, can you please take a seat in front of Watanabe Eiji. Please raise your hand Watanabe-san so she can find you." Without missing a beat she replaced her glasses and looked over to see that Rui hadn't left yet. "Hanazawa-sama, is there anything else?" That comment earned a new wave of giggles and whispers.

He looked at the middle-aged teacher and smirked at her tone. "No, thank you, that was it." He waved one last time, like a father leaving his daughter in preschool for the first time before he walked back out and headed toward his own class.

Once everything had finally settled down there remained a slight murmur through out the room, but nothing that the teacher seemed to pay attention to. It didn't take long for the bell to ring and Tsukushi sighed that it had taken the whole period to deal with her own issues. Between Tsukasa and Rui and all of her regular crap she'd be a mess before the end of the year.

"Hey." She heard an exaggerated whisper behind her. She turned to see three boys practically falling out of their chair's staring at her. The one to the farthest right had short brown hair cut very close to the scalp, most likely a military kid. Other than his ridiculously plain face he seemed the type to be everyone's friend and no one's friend at the same time. The type that you'd invite to a party, but you'd never really know if he came or not because he's so unassuming.

The young man to the left had the same short hair cut, but the top of his head was dyed blond, leaving the sides and back black. He had narrow beady little eyes like a crow and a nasty scowl on his face. He kept inching forward as if he were chomping at some kind of bait.

The third young man, this Watanabe Eiji kid, he had jet black hair and soft brown eyes that followed her every move. He smirked at her as if she'd turned to check him out, forgetting that he'd just called her attention. He was the only student with his blazer draped across the back of his chair and as he leaned forward to analyzed her a little further, his white shirt seemed to tighten around his shoulders and biceps, showing off his well toned muscles there.

"You're Makino Tsukushi." His voice held a mocking tone, as if he knew a secret that no one else knew. The tones rang letting everyone know that second period had started, but the teacher had yet to appear.

She didn't even deem his comment worth acknowledging as she rolled her eyes and turned around, thinking that would discourage them from going any further, but it only seemed to encouraged their efforts. The shortest of the three, the one with the frosted hair came over to her desk and smiled like a hyena as he reached over her lap and flicked at the corded tie at her collar. "You were Takekado's legacy."

The second young man dragged his chair to her other side and leaned back with his arms crossed. "Not much of a legacy if his best student was his own niece. "

She tried to ignore them. She looked around the room, but these three boys seemed to have everyone's attention. They all watched with this sick facination. Why wouldn't they. Yesterday they watched a defenseless little kid get beat up, why not watch and enjoy some three on one bullying.

"We saw your little display yesterday." Eiji droned on from behind her. "Those kids were all from wealthy families. The one whose leg you just decided to break, he's a starter for the Kendo team. The two that got concussions were on the baseball team. The one with the broken nose, he's one of my best friends. He's my right hand man on the karate team. You beat them up for what? Some gutter sweeping nuevue riche kid that doesn't even belong in this school."

Tsukushi held her hands together, lacing the fingers to hold them tight as she grit her teeth together trying not to lash out at these kids too. "I'm not concered with who you think belongs here, or doesn't. I don't like a bully, and I'm not going to stand idly by and not say something as six kids have their way with someone who can't defend themselves again the attack."

"What a hero." The blonde ducked his head into her personal space and her hands acted on their own slamming his face against her desk.

"Get the hell away from me." She hissed into his ear, making the young man break into a dark and slight disturbing fit of breathy chuckles. She released his neck and pushed him away.

"This isn't your old school, Makino-san." Eiji noted, a hint of amusment in his voice. "That sense of justice, you might as well just leave it at the door. This place is run by money. That little clique you were hanging out with yesterday, the F4 they pretty much think they run this place. That kid that was getting beat up, that was Doumyouji's order. He's the one that red carded Aioke. So, you have something to gripe about, start in your own backyard." He waved his hand and the two kids that had been blocking the door stepped aside allowing the teacher to come into the room.

Tsukushi set her jaw and tried to look as impassive as possible. It wouldn't do her any good to let these guys know they had rattled her, but suddenly she jumped slightly, started by the hands that had slid onto her shoulders and the soft warm breath by her ear. "Remember I said they think they run this school. You're not as safe as they want to make you feel. If Doumyouji's the king, I'm the general. My guys are his army, and what can a king do with out his army to enforce his rule. Take that home and tuck it into bed with you."

"I don't need anyone to protect me." She ground out through her clenched teeth.

The hands on her shoulder's tightened a little painfully. "Aww how cute, is that what you used to tell yourself when he'd crawl into bed with you too."

All the color drained from Tsukushi's face and her mouth went slack at the words whispered in her ear. Before she could register what her body was doing she was on her feet and she had swung a punch at Eiji, who blocked it and swung a counter attack. The other two boys sprung into action pulling tables out of the way to give them ample space for a fight. The teacher at the front of the class sighed heavily and collected his things before leaving.

For every hit he took he returned one. For every kick, there was an answer. He was just as experienced as she was, but as her panic rose she was getting sloppy. As the bile in her stomach churned at the thoughts her traitorous mind offerred, she lost her momentum, until she was pinned face down on the floor.

"Everyone knew and no one said a word. They let him rape you because he was the best. He was from a wealthy family, and your grandfather swept it under the rug. Things are not much different here; the ones with the money make the rules." He tightened his hold as the other two kids pulled at the leather straps on her wrists. "If you were weak enough to try and commit suicide, be strong enough to wear your scars with pride. You disgust me. So small, so pathetic, and everyone is delusional enough to call you the best, you're nothing." With that he stood and kicked her in the side for good measure.

The bell rang calling out the end of the second period and as everyone shuffled out of the classroom, Tsukushi lay on the floor in tears.

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><p>There you have it. Now we know what's wrong with Tsukushi. I hope that you'll have enough time to review. Thank you for reading. BTW... to those that are going to be up in arms about the implied incest, it's not what you think. It'll be explained later, but for now, think of it like when you're family is really close to someone and your parents tell you to call them uncle. Yeah, like that.<p>

Another little note, sorry the chapter isn't properly edited. I proofed the chapter three times, but everytime I saved I lost connection. Finally I thought everything was fixed, but when I got home, it was back the way I had it before I even left the house to proof it. *.* sight *.*


	6. She Doesn't Fight Fair

First off I'd like to apologize for not updating in so long. I was moving. I hate moving. I don't think anyone in their right mind likes moving. It's a lot of work and it takes forever. I will be back to updating, but it will be on Thursday's only, unless I have to watch my kids, because then those little "angels from heaven" don't let me get any work done.

I want to also thank everyone who reviewed: Zerolover1211, Angie, Rubella-Ventus.

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><p>Chapter 6: She Doesn"t Fight Fair<p>

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><p>Two female students stood at the door debating whether they should get involved or not. It wasn't a secret what Doumyouji would do to anyone that pissed him off, and this girl's temper was becoming just as infamous, so it was hard to decide on a plan of action. Yet, when they heard the broken sobs coming from the new student curled up like a child on the floor, their decision was made for them.<p>

"Makiko, go get Doumyouji-san. I'll try and calm her down." She took a step into the classroom only to have her arm pulled back.

"I can't, Yuuki, he'll red card me if I go tell him this." The girl named Makiko looked aghast at the possible wrath she'd be facing.

Yuuki, sighed, it would be troublesome no matter who went to tell him, but the most important thing would be to get help. She ran a hand through her shoulder length honey brown hair. "I'll go then, just calm her down. See if you can't get her to stop crying."

She ran toward the F4's classroom, climbing the two flights of stairs with an energy she didn't know she had. She stopped and clapped her hands twice saying a silent prayer before knocking on the door. As she slid it open she saw that the professor had stopped teaching to glare at her. All four boys seemed to be doing their own thing, present, but definitely not paying attention. She noticed that Hanazawa Rui was sleeping and Doumyouji looked to be doodling in a notebook. Ignoring the teacher, she walked up to his desk and her presence alone caught his attention.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked gruffly without looking up from his art work.

"Gomen for bothering you, but there was an incident and Makino-san might be injured." Tsukasa stood at once and was out the door before she could even tell him where it had happened. She took off after him, with Sojiro, Akira and Rui right behind her. "She got into a fight with Watanabe-san, but he was clearly trying to goad her into one." She tried to explain as she ran behind him.

"She's in 2A 'Kasa." Rui, who was fully awake now, ran past everyone to correctly guide his best friend to the classroom.

When they got to the room Doumyouji went in alone. He stopped at the door. He'd seen many emotions pass this girl's face in the last two days but this despair in her eyes as she looked up at him broke his heart. She sat at one of the desks with her head on her folded arms.

"Go away." She rasped tiredly, closing her eyes and turning the other way. She batted away at the raven haired girl trying to rub circles into her back.

He motioned for the girl to go and she stood from the seat she'd been in quickly and ran out in fear.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." Tsukushi didn't bother looking up at him.

"You can tell me, or I can ask someone else. Either way I'm going to be pissed off." He took the chair Makiko had just vacated and spun it around so that he could sit in it facing her.

"I don't want you to get involved."

"What are you talking about, I'm already involved. What do you think I meant when I said that an attack against you was an attack against the whole F4?" He reached over and lifted her chin so he could look in her eyes. "I want to be your friend." He lowered he eyes and whispered bashfully, "maybe more." His thumb brushed her cheek in a tender caress. "I can't do that if you don't believe in me."

She couldn't tear her eyes away from his. He looked so sincere and just as vulnerable as she felt. Her hands sifted tightly and her lids fell shut. "Thank you for your concern. I will work at us being friends, but I can't ask you to fight my battles." She opened her eyes and there was a tender determination set behind those hot chocolate pools. "I know one thing for certain, I don't like a bully. Eiji told me you were behind that red card yesterday. Is that true?"

"Yes, if there's a red card out on someone, I'm the one who put it out there." He said a little too proudly.

She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. "I'm not amused." He looked at her at a loss. "Do you think you can stop? If you want to be my friend, or more as you say, you need to stop pushing your weight around." She placed her hand on his mouth because she knew he was going to say something. "Like I said, I don't like a bully. I'm not asking you to let people walk all over you, just to fight your own battles. If you have an issue with someone, deal with it right there. If it isn't worth your time, it wasn't worth getting all ruffled about was it?" She removed her hand from his mouth. "Can you do that for a friend?"

He thought about it and went to open his mouth, but then closed it again. He put his finger on his jaw and acted as if he was still mulling it over. "Well, that's a lot you're asking for. I don't know if I'm willing to make such a sacrifice for a friend." She looked up at him shocked at his refusal. He shook his head. "No, definitely too much of a hassle for a friend." He stood to his full height and walked behind her chair before bending over to whisper in her ear. "But, it'd be something I'd be willing to do for my girlfriend."

The contact of his warm breath fanning on her neck and ear sent a shiver down her spine and a stab in her stomach. She could help but smile at his attempt to be... was he trying to be seductive? She didn't even know, but she did know this, having him close to her didn't make her body react the way it did when anyone else would touch her. It was a welcomed feeling, and despite the situation just a few minutes prior, him joking with her like this made her feel just a little bit better. She lowered her head back onto her arms, this time trying to hide the smile that had crept up onto her face.

"Tsukasa." He looked up to see Rui at the door with a rage he'd never seen in his friend's eyes before.

The curly haired raven squeezed her shoulders and whispered that he'd be right back before walking out to his friends. "What's up?"

"What we got from the kids in the class is that Watanabe picked a fight with her. He got her riled up and then kept throwing her past in her face until she was so pissed he beat her, and then threw that in her face." He was seething. Rui wanted nothing more than to find this kid and stomp his face in.

"What do you want us to do, 'Kasa?" Sojiro asked from beside him.

Doumyouji thought it over. He didn't just want this kid beat up, he wanted him humiliated, just like he'd humiliated Makino. He knew he'd just promised to stop, but this was what the red card was created for. He closed his eyes. She'd understand. This was the kid that had just put her past out on display. He didn't know what it was, but Rui seemed angry enough for everyone and if it had him ready to tear this kid's throat out, it had to be bad. He sighed. "Red card him."

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><p>Yuuki and Makiko walked her to the 'nurse's office' after the boys left. The infirmary was more like a hospital with an on call doctor and staff of paitentless nurses. It didn't take long for the doctor to see to her bruises and demand that she rest after taking a few pain relievers. Personally, she would have preferred to rest at home, but the doctor had been quite insistent.<p>

Two hours later the clamor of the nurses woke her from her nap. They were going on like a gaggle of turkeys, but when the words 'red card' and 'Watanabe' hit her ears they had her full attention. Still feeling a little light headed, Makino slipped out of bed, into her shoes and out of the 'office' before any of the nurses realized.

Finding the heart of the action was never hard at this school. There was always a throng of people searching for the event as well. When she'd reached the cafe she could already make out someone yelling. She pushed past a few kids, who glared at her until they saw who it was and started to open a path for her.

"Who the hell do you think made you who you are Doumyouji?" She could hear Eiji call out. He stood toe to toe with Tsukasa. He held the red card in the taller boys face. "Who do you think enforces these?" He tore the paper in half before throwing it to the floor. "I am your army." He snapped his fingers and a group of boys came through the crowd to line up behind Eiji. "This is my army." He held his arms out as if he were a king. "Did you think that any of these men would lift a finger against me?"

Tsukasa's anger was reaching a boiling point and he grabbed the scruff of Eiji's collar. "I don't need anyone's help to beat the shit out of you." The warning came out as a feral growl, but the Watanabe didn't even bat and eye.

"I assure you, I'll put YOU down, just like I did your bitch."

The curly haired raven drew back his arm, but the fist never closed in because of the petite hand on his shoulder.

"I thought I told you that I didn't need anyone to fight my battles." She pushed past him and pulled Eiji's color out of his grasp.

"As for you," She locked eyes with the Watanabe. "You said I was nothing," she shrugged it off. "Maybe you're right. I don't hold myself in such a high regard because I, like yourself, have never done anything note worthy by myself. I'm nothing, because you too are nothing."

She stepped forward so she'd be nose to nose with the loud mouth. "I do, however, need to address a huge mistake in your little speech. That coward was not and will never be my uncle. He was the bastard son of my grandfather's second wife. My mother had been adopted into the Takekada family by his late first wife and that is why Hiro never became the heir. Get you information right before you start running your mouth."

She took two steps back before bowing deeply, a gasp of shock filling the room. "I also feel the need to apologize for my grandfather's actions. I wasn't placed under my uncle's 'care' until after my grandfather died, so there was never any indiscretion to sweep under the rug where I was concerned, but you." She crossed her arms and glared into darkening eyes. He knew where she was going with this and his anger was seeping through each pore. "You'd've been one of Hiro's earlier students. Is that why you hate me so much? Is it because my grandfather paid you're family to be quiet about YOUR rape?"

"Shut your mouth." He lunged at her only to be pinned to the floor with his hand stretched uncomfortably behind his head. "Another mistake you're speech made was saying that I'm not the best. Every championship I won, I won with no one's help. Every medal was gained from my own hard work. I never fought you, because you never made it to the top. You're not on my level." She released his arm and stood back with her arms out so that her leather wristbands could be seen.

"Oh, and Eiji, I don't wear these to hide my scars, they're a reminder that I am more than my mistakes and I deserve to be here." She walked past the crowd that opened up to let her go.

Doumyouji watched her leave, proud of her little display of power. He walked over to the once proud 'general' and nudged him with his shoe. "You're done here." He took a step to walk away. "Oh, and by the way, I don't need an army to get rid of you."

Rui walked over to the boy, who after everything that had just happened still lay on the floor. He bent down and placed a tri-folded paper on the floor by his head. "While we've been here, security has been cleaning out your locker. You were expelled about an hour ago." Rui stood and Sojiro took his place.

"While we've been here, your family's assets were all frozen. You and you're big mouth must have forgotten that your father is CEO of one of Takekada's branch companies. Until Makino takes over, Doumyouji Corp is running ALL of its divisions." Sojiro stepped aside so Akira could step forward.

"While we've been here, your mother's interior design company just lost 85% of its business. Who did you think your mother designed for, idiot. She was the head consulting designer for the Maple Leaf Hotels. She was in charge of decorating over six hundred hotels world wide." Akira stood up and the F4 never looked stronger.

Doumyouji glared at the line of kids that made up Eiji's 'army.' "Never forget why WE are the F4. It's not because we can put up a piece of paper and get you beat up."

Rui placed his hand on Tsukasa's shoulder as he added. "It's because we can destroy you and everyone you hold dear to you. This is the last warning! Leave Makino alone."

The four boys walked out of the room and if the girls weren't in tears they were squealing about how cool the F4 was. Most of the students left, a little shaken up about what had happened to their once fearless leader, but most of them were just happy it hadn't happened to them.

In minutes the room was empty, save for the young man silently crying on the floor.

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><p>The clocktower looming in the distance read that it was already after one o'clock. She sighed deeply, realizing that she hadn't learned very much at this school in that last two days. She used to like school. It used to be a nice escape from training and her awful family life, but this place was far from some kind of refuge. This place was set to be her battle ground it would seem. That thought made her sigh again. Who wanted to spend that much time fighting?<p>

A one hundred yen coin was placed on the ledge beside her and she spun around to see Rui's sullen smile directed to her. "It's yours, if you'll talk to me."

She shrugged and looked back out toward the courtyard. "I'm not seven anymore. My thoughts cost a lot more now." Her lips quirked up in a tight lipped smirk as he started to search through is pockets in a mock display of urgency.

"Do you take credit cards?"

"I do, but I don't give them back." It earned her a light chuckle, mostly from the oddity of her telling a joke, but all she could do was stare out at the courtyard. She really didn't feel like doing much else right now.

He placed one of his platinum cards on the ledge next to the coin. "So talk."

They stood in silence for a few minutes until she spun her legs back toward the balcony and jumped down. "He knew. Evert hing." She leaned against the wall and rested her head against the bricks. "He had most of it wrong, but no one cares about that. They latch onto the juicy parts of a story, true or not and they hold on like a pittbull."

Rui sat down against the far wall and stretched out his legs. "He's gone. Things will go back to normal now."

"What's normal, Rui? This is my second day here and I've been in two fights already. That's not what I was sent here for. If Tsubasa-ji gets wind of this I'll be gone too." She slid down to the floor and held her skirt up on the back of her legs as she pulled them closer to her chest. "I didn't want to go to New York, but now I'm really worried that that would have been the better choice." She rested her chin on her knee, a full minute passed before she added. "I had a panic attack yesterday. After the argument with Tsukasa."

His eyes fell to his lap and she could see he was trying to keep his temper in check. "So, do you want to leave?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to." She sighed as she got up and faced the clock tower again. It was almost two o'clock, maybe she could salvage a few hours of this day. "But if this is going to be the norm for me, I won't have a say anymore." She placed his credit card on the ground next to him. "I'll keep the hundred yen this time. We'll call it the old friend discount."

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><p>After that scene with Watanabe, Tsukasa had wanted to go after Tsukushi, but thought against it. He'd been too pissed off and in the mood he was in he'd be liable to say something stupid and make their strained relationship even worse. Currently he was hurling darts at an overly abused board while Akira and Sojiro sipped from their drinks in an oddly comforting silence.<p>

The phone in his pocket rang, he had ignored it the last two times but this incessant caller was starting to wear at his already frayed nerves. Slipping the phone from his pocket he saw that it was the same unknown caller from the previous calls. "What?" He all but growled into the phone.

"Tsukasa?" The voice on the other line almost sounded timid and he froze unable to respond. "I hope you don't mind, but I got your number from Nishida." When she didn't get a response she'd called out his name again, which pulled him out of his shock long enough to clear his throat so she'd know he was still there, because his voice was failing him.

"Um, I was wondering... well, I had hoped..." She paused not sure how to say it. A few moments passed between them before she found her barrings. "I was going to go to class, but I don't think I can right now. It's not about the students, I could care less about them, I just don't think I could concentrate right now. Besides, I left my map and my schedule in the classroom and... ugh!" He could hear the frustration in her voice and it made him smile. "Now I'm babbling!" Her voice gained the confidence he was used to and his heard started to pound in his chest. "Since you offered last night, can we go somewhere? Just the two of us? I like you're friends, but I kinda don't want a crowd."

His legs started moving before his mouth did and when he grabbed his coat from off the couch the two other boys had called out to him, but he was out the door without a second look back.

"If you're busy, don-"

"I'm on my way." He interrupted finding his voice. "Where are you?"

"In front of the school."

"I'll be right there."

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><p>Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	7. What Happens on a Date?

Aloha all you freaky folks! I would off the bat like to say sorry for the spell check issues on the last few chapters. Since I can only get around a non-work related computer every now and then, it's hard for me to spell check and I hate to update totally crappy chapters. With any luck from the spell check Gods this chapter will be better.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading thus far. Really appreciate it. Thanks to our reviewers!

Here's the new chapter. Hope you like. And I feel that as a website we should quit doing this because no one reading fanfiction ever thinks that the writer is making a big fat red cent from posting these free stories, BUT, I don't own HYD or ... anything else for that matter.

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><p>Chapter 7: What Happens on a Date?<p>

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><p>It took him a little over fifteen minutes to make it to the front of the school. Makino was already waiting by the curb when the car pulled up. She opened the door and slipped in before he could shift the gear to park.<p>

"Thank you." She mumbled before pulling her seat belt on and looking out the window.

Tsukasa looked at her expectantly, but she seemed to be avoiding eye contact. His brow twitched as he noticed she was ignoring him. What the hell had she called him for if she wasn't going to talk to him? He coughed to clear his throat, hoping to grab her attention, but she never looked his way.

"Can we just go somewhere?" He heard her ask, not that she deemed it necessary to stop staring out into the window at the nothingness of the courtyard.

Annoyance and a hint of disappointment was evident in his expression, not that she'd see it. He put the car in drive and peeled off in search of a new location. He kept throwing glances her way, trying to catch her peeking at him, but she seemed catatonic in the way she practically curled up in the chair. A soft growl grew in the back of his throat until an idea hit him and he turned right, despite the fact that he had been in the left lane. He ignored the blaring horns from the cars he'd just cut off and almost cheered himself on when she finally turned to look at him, skeptical about his driving capabilities. "Are you okay to drive?"

He let out a tense but hearty laugh as he continued down the road. "Of course. I'm an excellent driver." He gave her his most charming smile, but she had turned back to the window.

"Sure you are." A pleased little grin played on the tone of her snarky little remark."Where are we going anyway?"

Tsukasa let the comment go unanswered as he pulled into an empty lot and parked in front of an unmarked one story gray cemented building. The property seemed abandoned except for the old faded red pick-up truck tucked behind a large black dumpster beside the building.

"You call me out of no where, you ask me to pick you up, and then you throw me some half-assed thank you before you decide to not talk to me the entire ride. Then, when you do open your mouth , it's to make a snide remark about my driving." He wanted to just say forget it. Maybe he was an idiot for getting excited about her call. She was obviously an ungrateful twit that didn't understand how lucky she was to be getting a moment of his attention, but he couldn't help but smirk when he noticed that he had finally commanded her full attention. In fact she was blushing in her embarrassment and that little pout in her cheeks made it all worth while.

He knew he shouldn't be wasting his time with this girl, but everything about her screamed that she was worth the hassle.

Tsukushi knew he was right. She wasn't sure why she had called him. She just felt comfortable around him. Rui could arguably be her closest friend, and even the sadness of that revelation wasn't lost on her, but being around him made her uncomfortable too.

She didn't know what it was about Tsukasa, but she could breathe around him. She wasn't panicked or tense and it felt wonderful to just sit and look out the window. It'd been years since she'd just let her mind carry.

"I'm sorry. I must have seemed very rude just now, but I'm just ... I don't know if you'll understand, but I feel safe around you." She bit her bottom lip in contemplation before adding, "I trust you."

Tsukasa couldn't name the feeling in his stomach. He felt a little nauseous, like when you're on a roller coaster and you feel like you're going to wretch. He couldn't get a grip on his feelings. She made him want to punch her and hug her and kiss her... a lot. She was all over the place, like a pinball machine, with too much going on at the same time and trying to make you tilt.

He had never been really good with dealing with girls, mostly because he couldn't stand the breed of girls that flocked in his social circle, but Makino, she was nothing like those girls. He could see himself really enjoying her company, even if she'd ignored him the whole ride, it had been a companionable silence.

He cleared his throat. He felt kind of awkward having brought it up now. "So... so well, let's go inside then." He got out of the car and waited for Makino to join him before heading toward the door.

"What is this place?"

Tsukasa sighed. "You're ten feet from the door, you mean to tell me you can't wait to get inside." He opened the door for her to enter first and smiled when he saw her jaw slack an inch as she noticed that he'd brought her to an ice rink.

"Mr. Doumyouji." An older gentleman with silvering black hair smiled their way. "The skate room is open and I put those sweaters you had dropped off in there too. If you need me I'll be warming up some hot chocolate at the concession stand."

Tsukasa placed his hand at the small of her back and led her to the skate room.

"Why ice skating?" She looked back at him when he stopped walking.

"You don't like skating?" He asked nervously.

She giggled at the look of disbelief on his face. "No, I love it, but how did you know?"

He smiled smugly and redirected her toward the changing room. "I guess I know you better than you thought." He laughed to himself proud of his choice.

"Oh." She smiled as the thought hit her, 'Rui must have told him.'

They both changed into a pair of skates and Tsukasa put on a sweater, because the rink was freezing and they hadn't even gotten on the ice. Tsukushi laughed and made fun of the garment saying that he looked like puppy. She donned a thin long sleeved muscle shirt and took the ice.

There was something about the way she moved on the ice that kept Tsukasa on the edge of the rink. She wasn't doing anything fancy, just skating from one end to the other, getting a feel for it, but it showed that this was her element.

"Do you think they can turn the music on?" She skated over when she noticed that he hadn't joined her.

Tsukasa felt his cheeks heat up slightly at getting caught staring at her, but pulled out a little remote and aimed it at the empty music booth. Seconds later a clap like rhythm filled the speakers. Tsukushi stared at him incredulously, he thought he'd screwed up the music, if you could call this annoying beat that, but he could tell from the gleam in her eyes that she was impressed. "You're just full of surprises today, aren't you?" She put her hands on her hips and watched as his cheeked pinked again.

"What, I can't like American music?" He glared at the empty booth then noticed that the song changed, but at least it was a little better than the last song. He took the ice making sure to bump into her when he passed.

She raced after him to match his long strides. "No, it's just a little hard to believe you like 3Oh!3."

He poked her forhead and turned around so that he could take her hands and skate with her. "And what music should I listen to, since you obviously know me so well."

It was her turn to blush and Tsukushi started picking up speed to force him to skate faster in an attempt to throw him off. "I would see you listening to angry music. You seem like an angry kind of guy." She chuckled at his glare. "Maybe some high energy rap, like dTechnolife or Fort Minor."

He had to smile, he liked that genre of music, but for the look on her face he'd be happy to listen to this crappy pop-like stripper music. He frowned when she slipped her hands from his and sped away, but didn't miss the call to changed the track to number 7.

The deep base from the beat filled the rink and as the tempo picked up speed so did Tsukushi. She danced to the rhythm and his breath caught when she took her first jump. He didn't know any of the fancy names or how technical the sport could be, all he knew was that she was gaceful and powerful and she looked really sexy when she swayed her hips at the cat call like whistles coming from the speakers.

"You're going to freeze to death just standing there." She called over to him as she came skating back. She placed her hands on his cheeks and made a chiding noise with her tounge. "Look at you. You're already turning red. You're cheeks are super warm too."

Tsukasa took a step back and alomst fell, forgetting he was on skates. "I'm fine."

She looked at him quizically and then back at the ice with a sigh. "That gentleman said he was making hot chocolate. Maybe we should get you some, warm you up a bit." She slipped her hand in his and pulled him off the ice.

Tsukasa allowed her to lead him like a child because he really liked the feel of her hand in his.

x.x.x

The stand had been empty, but cups sat next to a coffee server that was filled with cocoa. It was a little warmer on the stands because of the hot air vents, but not much and Tsukasa really wanted his coat; not that he'd ever admit it.

"Thank you," she smiled as she took a sip. "This is really nice."

A weird smirk bent his lips as he mumbled a quick "you're welcome" before taking a long drink from his cup to hide his blush.

They sat in silence, the music from the forgotten cd playing in the background, until she let out a cat like yawn.

"Sorry I bore you." Tsukasa jabbed her shoulder and it made her laugh. "I wish you would have told me I needed to be entertaining."

"I wish you would have told me I needed to tell you." She jabbed back laughing when she almost spilled her cocoa. "No, really. I didn't sleep that well last night."

He hung his head slightly, thinking about her admission. "Sorry." He suddenly got a gleam in his eyes before he said. "If I had known you'd have so much trouble sleeping, then I would've slept with you after all."

He was prepared for her when she pounced and caught her around the waist and started to tickle her. "Get off... of me." She let out in between her gasps for air. "Let go... I need to kill you."

He paused slightly and quirked an eyebrow, but didn't let go of his restraint. "Was that supposed to be an insentive to let you go, because if that's what I get out of this then I'm just going to keep tickling you?" He wiggled his fingers earning another peal of laughter.

"No, no." She tried to get her bearings back, but he kept tickling her intermittently. "Please Doumy-" she smiled at the look he shot her and giggled at his attempt at a glare, "okay, Tsukasa, please let go of me."

"I'm pretty sure you were attempting to attack me when I grabbed you." He held her tightly as she growled and stuggled to get free, which earned her another tickle. "I dropped my hot chocolate, I'm positive you dropped yours, someone's going to have to clean that up, now after all the trouble I went to today, I think I deserve a kiss."

"I think you deserve a busted lip." She almost laughed before a sad look filled her eyes. His grip slipped slightly, but she didn't try to escape. "Why did you use another red card when you told me you'd stop?"

A sigh slipped from his lips the sober mood that came with those words weighed heavily on them. He let go of her and she took her seat on the other bench. "First off, I never said I would stop. I said I would for my girlfriend. Secondly, I did it because that bastad hurt you." He raised a hand to her lips just as she had done to him.

"I have a lot of faults. One of which is the fact that I'm very possessive. I protect whatever I see as mine. My friends, my family, my reputation, they're all I have. If I was broke tomorrow, all the fake people around me would flake off, but the real people who love me, who stand beside me, they'll help me build myself back up again. That's why I'm so aggressive about protecting them." He leaned forward and took her hands. "I haven't even known you a week, but you're already so precious to me. When I heard you got hurt my heart almost sped out of my chest I got so worried about you." He bent and place a soft kiss on the back of her hand before turning them over to place soft kisses on her palms. "I know you wanted me not to use the red card, but that trash deserved to be humiliated for what he did to you."

The thin smile on her lips didn't match the brightness of her eyes. She squeezed his hands gently and slipped onto her knees in front of him so she could cup his face. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I also have flaws. My worse is probably my temper, and that's why I understand why you did it, but please stop." She closed her eyes to stop the tears from brimming over, but one escaped and he wiped at it with the pad of his thumb. She pulled it back into her hand and kissed his palm. "Hiro was paid to bully people around. People took his style of dicipline as structured, but he just liked keeping people under his thumb." She sighed and looked him deeply in the eye. "I have so many flaws and hang ups that people write books about people like me, but my worse issues are the ones stemming from him. I am who I am because of everything, good or bad, that happened with him." She pulled away slightly and sat on her feet. "You said earlier that you wanted to be my friend, maybe more, are you sure that you want to deal with all the emotional baggage? I'm more than a handful I have a lot of issues. I don't like people touching me if I'm not ready for it, I'm scared of clowns, I don't really know how to respect other people's personal space sometimes, I'm violent, I -" He fell to his knees and covered her mouth with his stopping her list.

Her hands slipped away from his chest and wrapped around his neck. His slid from her cheeks to her waist pulling her closer until she was on his lap. He kissed her deeply and pulled away when a soft mewl from her shot a diffent type of electricity into him. He practically shoved her off of his lap praying that she'd missed the hardness that was currently making his pants uncomfortable. "Let's go get changed. " He jumped up to his feet and left her there grinning. "I sat in you're stupid hot chocolate." He yelled back at her.

She giggled as she stood with practiced ease. "Yeah right..." she smiled to herself, "and that was probably you're wallet brushing against my leg."

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><p>AN: I've been working in this chapter for-ev-er and I'm sorry for the extremely slow updates but a lot of stuff has been going on, but most of the time it's just Naruto fan fics win out over my own. Sorry. I have practically read everything KakaNaru had to offer, so I'll try to be more focused. Please read and review.


	8. These Two Wouldn't Know

I would like to start this by saying thank you to everyone who has read the last few chapters. As I'm sure I've said before, I update via my phone. I have a better phone than I did when I started this story, but between life and Naruto fanfictions, I really haven't had time to update. I did, like two months ago, type up this GREAT chapter. It was awesome, even by my high standards, but I just wanted it to be a little longer. I know I should have uploaded it, I'm stupid, I agree because of course, like most dummies, time got the better of me and I lost the chapter to Fanfictions upload countdown thing.

Which left me with NO docs to edit. I care so much about this story... that and I got some wicked awesome reviews from kaitlynchosenisme which fired me up enough to pump this out... that I went to the library to upload a blank doc to work with. Well, that and I gave Naruto up for lent, which let me tell you is HARD!

Anyway, I am working really hard on getting the next chapter out to you. With any luck it will be out by Independence Day. HAHAHA

(I meant that as a joke. Please God let this be a joke.)

Thanks for reading. Please enjoy chapter 8 of Broken Hearts

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><p>Chapter 8: These Two Wouldn't Know<p>

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><p>It didn't take long for them to get back to the car. The plan had been to go to a restaurant to eat, but with Tsukasa's pants covered in quickly cooling chocolate milk, the plan changed from eating to shopping. Much to Tsukushi's chagrin, it was another hour before they got back to the car and headed to the Doumyouji estate, because after all the arguing in the store, over what to buy, neither of them was in the mood to eat.<p>

"You didn't have to buy a whole new outfit because your pants got wet." She was back to looking out the window, yet mindful to try to keep the conversation open. Tsukasa sucked his teeth, but didn't reply, which caught Tsukushi's attention. "You could have gone with the black slacks I picked out. There was no reason to try on the whole store."

"You kept saying everything looked stupid." He shot her a dirty look that she ignored by looking back out the window.

"I wasn't talking about the clothes." She murmured under her breath loud enough for him to hear.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened, but he swallowed his anger. "I can still take you out to dinner; it's not like it's that late." He bit out.

"I'd be happier just making something at home." She sighed and turned to him, resting her hand on his to loosen the white knuckled grip. "You asked someone to get my things out of the locker right?"

His grip loosened and he took her hand in his. "Yeah." He lowered their arms to rest in her lap before he let go to switch gears. "You're going to stay and eat with me though, right?" He slipped his hand back into hers.

If she was going to answer truthfully, she'd say no. She really just wanted to cook herself something small and go to sleep, if she ate at all. Yet, the pleading looks in his eye made her smile despite herself and nod an assent. He smiled back, which made her stomach flip a little, when he turned back to the road, she grimaced. That butterfly feeling was new to her and she wasn't sure if it was because she could tell this was a bad idea or if she was just nervous about taking such big steps with him.

All these feelings were completely new to her. Hiro had always had her on a short leash and made sure that she associated romanticism with torture and pain. She wasn't even really sure why holding Tsukasa's hand like this didn't set her on edge. If it had been anyone else, any type of contact would make her skin crawl. Yet, sitting like this rubbing circles onto his closed hand with her thumb while it sat in her lap, was the most relaxed she'd been since she left the hospital, maybe since her mother died. That thought sank into her belly like a chunk of lead and it took everything in her not groan at the taste of bile that rose to her mouth. Either way, she didn't think she'd be eating much tonight.

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><p>"Tsubaki-sama" One of the maids greeted in surprise as the young lady of the house walked through the front door. "Welcome home." She bowed respectfully.<p>

"Is my brother home?" Tsubaki asked handing her purse and hat to the awaiting maid.

"No." She seemed to look off in thought. "He rarely eats dinner at home anymore. Most nights he stays out 'til late."

Tsubaki nodded and thanked the young woman for her information before requesting a meal be arranged for her and retiring to one of the sitting rooms. She was half way down the hall when she heard a maid greeting her idiot brother.

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><p>"Can you get dinner ready?" Tsukasa called down to the maid as he practically pulled Tsukushi up the stairs behind him. The petite brunette struggled behind him, but let him lead them nonetheless; after all she didn't know where they were going anyway.<p>

"Tsukasa!" They both stopped to look down at the booming voice that called up to him.

"Oi, Nee-chan, what are you going here?" He called from his place on the steps, sounding a bit put out by the sudden presence. The hand holding his tightened and pulled his attention to Tsukushi's pale face. "Oi, what's wrong with you?" The questioned went unanswered as his sister called up to them.

"Tsukushi-chan, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Tsukasa was taken aback by how his sister could know the young woman he'd only met a few days before, but it was clear that said girl was not happy to see his sister again. He squeezed her hand to get her attention and when she turned to him it was almost as if she were shocked to see him there. "I... I should-d go." She stammered out, but when she made let go of his hand and make her way down the stairs, Tsukasa stopped her.

"What's wrong?" He whispered looking her deeply in her eyes.

"Maybe she's right, Tsukasa. She should go home." Tsubaki called from the foot of the stairs. "She shouldn't be here in the first place."

That comment boiled his blood and without letting go of Tsukushi's hand he continued up the stairs. "She belongs here, because I invited her here." He called over his shoulder. He continued to pull his guest until he reached his room. "What the hell is wrong with her?" He grumbled as he closed the door behind them. "Oi and what's with you? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"I'm sorry, Doumyouji. I should really go." Tsukushi looked off to the side, making sure not to make eye contact. He'd never seen her submissive before, almost like a kicked dog. He held her shoulders and tried to get her to look at him, but she would look anywhere but at his eyes. After a few minutes he quickly grew tired of the lack of response and growled a quick "stay here" before barreling out his door and down the stairs.

He found his sister in the study across from the foyer. "What the hell is up with the two of you?"

"It doesn't matter what I say to you. If you're smitten with that girl, you won't listen to I word I say." She looked at him as if challenging him to deny it. When he held his stance, arms crossed; waiting for a reply she sighed and took a seat on the window bed. "I don't know what she's told you, Tsukasa, but she's nothing more than a little liar." She looked for a reaction, but when she didn't get one, she continued. "I don't know why she's here, but I expect that it has something to do with father. He's absolutely blinded by her."

"It was mother actually." Tsukasa interrupted.

A look Tsukasa couldn't name crossed over Tsubaki's face, but she pulled herself together quickly. "You have to put as much distance between the two of you as you can before she hurts you Tsukasa, and believe me, she will hurt you. She's not stable."

"What are you talking about?"

"For one, she killed her uncle in cold blood."

A dark look crossed his face and he glared like murder. "You have always told me not to talk about things I don't know anything about. I suggest you follow your own advice."

"So you already found out that much. She's a liar, 'Kasa. She probably told you how innocent she is, how she only killed him in self defense." She looked as if she were pleading with him to believe her. "She bashed his head in with a free weight while he was sleeping. She's a killer, little brother and father got her lawyer to plead guilty so she could be placed in a mental institution. She was only locked up for about a year. She crazy, Tsukasa. It's just a matter of time before she hurts you too."

His sister's speech made his blood run cold, but did nothing for the glare he had her pinned down with. He sighed and shook his head sadly. "You're too much like me, Nee-chan. We're stubborn and pigheaded and stupid to a fault, I guess." He walked over and kissed her cheek before smiling bitterly. "You can think what you want, there's nothing that I can say to change your mind, just like there's nothing you can say to change mine. All I can say is that as long as Tsukushi is here, she's a guest. I don't know why she looks like she's scared of you, but I don't want you anywhere near her."

"Did nothing I said get to you?" She looked shocked by his cavalier attitude.

"I heard everything you said, I just don't believe that she should be written off so easily. She's my friend, just like you're my sister. I care for the both of you, but I wouldn't let you go just because she told me to, any more than I would let her go." He turned to walk out, but Tsubaki grabbed his hand.

"Father loves her, more than either of us. If he finds out that you and her are together, he will tear you two apart. He stopped the world to keep her out of jail. He got her out of the asylum and placed in his care. She's afraid of me, because she knows that I know everything. I know everything she's done. She's ashamed of herself and that's why she can't look me in the eye." She placed her head on her brother's strong back. She's going to hurt you, otouto. Maybe not today, but she will hurt you. Please, if you won't listen to reason and walk away from her right now, can you do me a favor? Don't get attached to her; don't fall in love with her."

Tsukasa didn't say anything. He just brushed his sister's hand off of him and walked out of the room. This time, she didn't stop him. She did everything she could. She'd said everything there could be said. Everything else was up to him.

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><p>"Everything she said was true."<p>

Tsukasa spun around startled by the sudden voice behind him. He stood gob smacked at the sight of Tsukushi sitting on the floor, back against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest. He walked over to her, squatting down to place his hand on her head. He almost pulled back when she flinched violently away from him, but he simply slowed his movements until his palm rested gently on her hair.

"Let me decide my own fate." He spoke gently, letting his hand slip, caressing her cheek until he reached her chin and lift it up so that she was looking in his eyes. "I'm a Doumyouji. I'm also a pretty tough guy. I'm not scared of you." He smiled, but when he noticed that the smile wasn't returned he rested down on one knee, leaning forward until his forehead rested on hers. "I don't care about anything you've done before. I've done a lot of awful things that you'd probably be mortified by. We all make mistakes, Makino, but I'm not going to judge you for yours if I'm not willing to be judged for mine."

A tear rolled down her cheek, but neither of them moved to wipe it away. "I'll just end up hurting you." She whispered. "I can't give you what you want."

Tsukasa smirked playfully and ticked her side until a smile curved her lips. "What do you know about what I want?" He chuckled as she batted his hands away.

"You deserve better than me." She placed her hands on his cheeks so that he could see that she was very serious. "Tsubaki was right Tsukasa, I'm wrong for you. I'm a bad person, I'm not stable, and I'm bro-" Her thought was cut off by his lips on hers.

It was just a chaste meeting of lips, but when he leaned forward again he pressed harder, more insistent. Her knees dropped slowly, her feet moving to the side and his hands dropped to her waist to pull her closer. He was surprised when she kissed him back gently, almost tentative with her actions. A toothy grin split his lips when a soft mewl was her response to him pulling away. "You talk too much and I'm too stubborn to listen. Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm the Great Doumyouji Tsukasa. I get whatever I want and I want you." He leaned in for another kiss and she reciprocated, wrapping her arms around his neck. When he pulled away this time, she followed his lips and didn't let go, nibbling lightly on his bottom lip.

She pulled away and lowered her head until her forehead lay on his chest. "I won't love you." She spoke almost too softly for him to hear. "You need to know that I'll never be able to love you and that will hurt more than anything. You need to know that and accept it right now." She looked him in the eyes and the determination he found there gave him goose bumps. "You also need to know that your parents will never let us be together." He tried to say something, but she interrupted him. "You need to forget about any dreams of a happily ever after between you and me."

"You don't know anything about how I feel. You worry about not falling in love with me." He poked her in the forehead and got up to walk away, leaving her still sitting on the floor. "Besides it's too late." He murmured under his breath. "I think I'm already falling for you."

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><p>Three men sat in an office talking back and forth over a business proceeding when a knock came to the door. A middle aged man with salt and pepper hair, an expensive pressed suit and a dark green folder, came into the office and bowed to the men in the room. The gentleman behind the desk called for a break and waited patiently as the other two exited the room.<p>

"What's wrong, Takeru-san?" He sifted through the folder his assistant placed on his desk. "When where these taken?"

"A few hours ago." The folder had been full of pictures of Tsukushi and Tsukasa at the skating rink and at a clothing store. "What do you want me to do, Doumyouji-sama?"

"There's nothing we can do right now. I promised her that I would give her one year. As long as she stays out of trouble, I can't do anything about it." A dark look crept into his older eyes as a plan formulated in his mind. "Keep me informed as to her whereabouts." He nodded that it was all he needed and Takeru left him alone in the office. He picked up one of the pictures of the smiling brunette. "If things keep progressing in this direction, sweetheart, I just might have to stir up some trouble, won't I?"


	9. Where Do We Go From Here?

Hello everyone! I hope that this update finds you all well. I have the best husband in the world and he has made it possible for me to go to the library again to update. Thanks for being the best underpaid babysitter Honey. Without further ado here is Chapter 9. BTW for his sake, please read and review. It makes him feel like he's getting them.

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><p>Chapter 9: Where Do We Go From Here?<p>

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><p>It had been just over three weeks since Watanabe Eiji was expelled from Eitoku Academy, just over three weeks since the last red card and just over three weeks since Doumyouji Tsukasa announced to the student body that he was no longer available because he was dating new girl, Makino Tsukushi. Most of the girls of Eitoku's student body spent the day trying to get Tsukushi's attention, or trying to give her things, but she wanted nothing to do with any of them.<p>

For the first few days after the announcement, if Tsukushi wasn't with Tsukasa and the F4, she was with Makiko and Yuuki. She felt comfortable with these people. It wasn't unheard of to see her sitting in the courtyard drinking tea with Sojirou and Akira or to see her eating ice cream with her new girlfriends. For the first time in a long time, she was finally getting comfortable in her own skin. A fact that made her smile as she lay her head on Tsukasa's chest, as she felt his arm wrap around her to bring her closer as they watched a movie on her couch. The most important thing was that it had been just over three weeks since the last time she'd cut herself.

Everything wasn't perfect. She still fought with Tsukasa a lot, he was a Doumyouji after all, but she was content with just being next to him. Tsubaki had yet to go back to Los Angeles and made a nuisance of herself whenever the pair went to his house, which was driving him crazy because he HATED Tsukushi's little apartment. It was smaller than his bathroom and had a small couch and an even smaller TV that he begged Tsukushi to let him replace. He was used to decadence and luxury. Tsukasa had been known for being wrapped in splendor, a social butterfly if you will. Well... maybe an angry antisocial wasp, that liked to be out and about so he could flaunt how cool he was, would be more accurate.

Tonight was no different. Akira and Sojirou had invited them out for drinks and probably dancing, but she didn't want to go out. Like every night this week, she'd said that he could go but that she was going home. Like every night this week, Tsukasa would always say that he was going out and would see her in the morning, but no later than ten he would be knocking at her door saying that he'd been bored.

Fifteen minutes into the movie and he was already fidgeting, complaining about the uncomfortable couch. Tsukushi recommended moving to the bed, but much to Sojirou and Akira's future dismay, Tsukasa had come tonight with other plans. About five minutes later he got up and turned the movie off. "Let's go out." He'd proclaimed boisterously.

Tsukushi couldn't help but sigh and roll her eyes. She knew, sooner or later that it would come down to this. "You can go out if you want to."

"Why are you so against going out with me?" He looked insulted by her dismissal.

"Look, 'Kasa, we've had this discussion before. I have a big target on my back, it's the reason Watanabe picked a fight with me, it's the reason I just want to stay home. There are a lot of jerks out there that want to measure their dicks by taking me on in a fight." She got up and walked into her bedroom.

"So you don't trust me to protect you?" Tsukasa followed her into the room.

"Oh my God! Everything is not about you!" She threw herself on the bed, before bouncing into a seated position. She shook her head tiredly and tried to remove all the annoyance before sighing and starting again a little calmer. "Can you just trust me to know what I'm talking about?"

"Not when you don't trust me to have your back." He said dejectedly as he walked out of the room and out the front door. He watched the door, willing it to open as he waited for the elevator. When the sensor rang and the elevator doors slid opened his heart dropped. He couldn't believe that she was really letting him walk out like that. Anger stroked at his pride and he was just about to get out of the elevator, storm through her front door, through her living room, and into her bedroom, and drag her out of that house when the front door opened.

All of his anger melted away when he took note of the white long-sleeved gypsy top with red laces that showed off a few inches of midriff above a corduroy red pleated skirt. "I better not get into any trouble." She said as she locked the door, knowing he was waiting for her. "I bet Tsubasa-oji is just chomping at the bit for me to screw up." She turned to the elevator, suggestively moving her fingers around exposed belly, watching her boyfriend's hungry eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to just stay and make out on my bed. I might take the top off this time." She wiggled her eyebrows coyly.

"Get in this elevator." He ordered with a roll of his eyes and when she was at his side he chuckled dryly. "That might have worked if you weren't such a tease." He slammed his finger onto the down button a couple of times before crossing his arms and leaning back. "Make out, ha!" He scoffed and glanced in her direction to see her amused smirk. "Like you've ever let me past first base."

Tsukushi leaned into his personal space and pulled him down so that she could whisper in his ear. "Now you'll probably never know What's on second." She took a quick nibble of his ear and watched as his whole body went stiff before trembling slightly.

He pushed her off and she had to laugh at his facial expression. "You know I hate that joke."

"Why, because You're on first?" She wanted to laugh so hard when he glared at her.

"Shut up Makino." Tsukasa stepped off the elevator leaving her behind.

"Well, maybe the joke should go, 'Who's on second? Not you.'" She couldn't help the laugh that erupted from her chest when he spun around looking like he'd kill her.

"You know what, stay home." He crossed the lobby in four strides and Tsukushi had to run after him to catch up.

"I'm only kidding, 'Kasa." She put herself between him and his car. Placing her hands on either side of his face she guided him into a kiss. "I like it when you get flustered like this. It shows you're just a regular guy."

He bent down and kissed her gently and begrudgingly let a smile tilt his lips. "No, you like it because you're a bully and you like pissing me off."

She shrugged, spun around and headed to the car before tossing a grin over her shoulder. "Maybe, but it takes one to know one."

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><p>True to F4 fashion, the club that Sojirou and Akira chose for the night was packed. The line for entry was wrapped around the building and pouring into the parking lot in the back. Tsukasa pulled up and a valet was at the door ready to take his keys and make sure that he wasn't inconvenienced in the slightest. Girls started cheering and calling out his name as if he were a celebrity, but they only got louder when Tsukushi stepped out of the passenger seat. They took the few steps to the door and didn't even say hello before the bouncer was letting them in.<p>

She'd taken two steps in when the bouncer tapped on Tsukushi's shoulder. She turned and was met with a sheepish smile, if not a light blush. "Makino-san, I'm a big fan of yours. I studied in your dojo for a while. I doubt you remember me, but you once beat the crap out of me."

She didn't know what to say, so she bowed her head slightly, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, no." He waved off nervously. "Those few months were the best time of my life. It was humbling if nothing else, a grown man getting taken down by a kid." He raised his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing the short dark hair there and laughed lightly. "I was actually bringing it up because I wanted to know if you're going to be entering the martial arts expo this year. You haven't participated... well... in a few years."

Tsukushi looked back at Tsukasa, who looked pissed to have been stopped and to have her talking to this guy, before looking back at the bouncer. "No, I won't be attending. I guess you can say I'm retired." She smiled warmly and bowed again. "Have a good night."

It seemed as if that answer caught him off guard, but he nodded and bowed back slightly deeper. "Have a good night." He said to himself because Tsukasa had already dragged her in. He looked back at the line and all the people waiting to get in. "SHUT UP!" He yelled at them and they all went silent. "You get in when I say you get in. Until then, stop asking." He watched a guy walk out with two girls and pointed to three girls near the front to go in.

"Hey, what the hell?" A guy at the front that was over looked yelled out.

"Shut the hell up." Was his answer.

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><p>The music was loud and the base vibrated the floor. Tsukushi was not accustomed to this kind of atmosphere. However, by the way Tsukasa wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up to his side, it was clear that this was his element. He made his way through the throng of dancing bodies as if there had been a path. They climbed the stairs to a second floor VIP suite to find Sojirou and Akira already accompanied.<p>

"'Kasa!" The boys greeted as they walked in.

"Dude! How did you sweet talk Makino into coming with you?" Sojirou teased from in between two lovely brunettes.

Tsukasa started talking about his silver tongue as Tsukushi skeptically scanned the seats. She sat on a couch that could pass as clean before interrupting her boyfriend. "Actually, I proposed that we stay and fool around on my bed, he's the one that demanded we go out."

Akira and Sojirou both jumped out of their seats as if they'd been electrocuted and slapped the back of his head. "You could've gotten laid, dummy!" They reprimanded in unison, making Tsukushi laugh.

Tsukasa only glared at them and then his smirking girlfriend before making his way to her, shoving her lightly. "She's a liar and a tease." He picked her up and placed her in his lap. "Anyway, if she was gonna give it up, which she wasn't..." He gently tickled her side making her laugh again. "...she'd still be giving it up later, right?" He smirked as if he'd said something brilliant, which he might have, because the girls with Sojirou were nodding sagely.

Akira shook his head. "You do realize you're the only one in this room that hasn't... you know..." He searched for a delicate way to say it. Especially when Tsukasa's face turned red, out of embarrassment or anger, he wasn't sure, but when he started to glare, it was easy to lean toward anger. "'Bro, I'm just saying that you might not want to be so dismissive when it's offered."

The leggy blonde with Akira didn't like his divided attention and quickly made her disapproval known. Sojirou also dropped the subject and went back to entertaining his guests. With both boys occupied it was as if Tsukushi and Tsukasa were alone in the room.

"Anyway, wanna dance or do you want something to drink?" He whispered softly, sending shivers down her spine as he kissed her neck.

Makino sighed gently and rolled her eyes, it wasn't as if there were going to be better options. "Let's dance then." She chose begrudgingly. They made their way out of the VIP area and down to the dance floor. The music was still too loud for her liking, but she tried to imagine that she was on the ice in a rink with the music blaring. Tsukushi found that as she relaxed a bit, she was actually having fun. She put her arms around Tsukasa's neck he bent down to kiss her.

By the fourth song the music slowed and Doumyouji couldn't wait to press her up against himself. This was the romantic moment that all the movies make girls dream about. That slow song at the prom or the school dance that brings the hero and the heroine together, that cements their relationship forever. He was finally getting his moment to sweep her off her feet.

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><p>The phone rang, but was answered on the second ring. "Where are you?"<p>

_"Vertigo, she's right in front of me."_

"Do it."

_"Anything you say."_

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><p>This night was perfect, down to her head resting on his chest as they danced. He knew that this was the right idea; he patted himself on the back. She looked up at him with those beautiful brown doe-like eyes and smiled so warmly he felt his stomach twist. "How am I not supposed to fall in love with you, when you smile at me like that?" She looked up at him as if startled and he caught her words with his kiss.<p>

"That's beautiful isn't it Ruko?" They heard someone say above the music.

"Yeah, it's just wonderful Genma." Another one said a little too close to Tsukushi's side.

They stopped dancing immediately and glared at the two intruders, one with short spiky black hair and the other with longer straight brown hair. Tsukushi, realizing what this was, tried to pull Tsukasa away from this situation before it escalated, but before she could get him to take one step back, the guy with the brown hair was throwing a punch.

"You know, I thought you wouldn't be pretty, seeing as how butch you are." The one with the spiky black hair grabbed her from behind. He ground himself into her backside and held her when she struggled. "I could get a lot of fun out of you."

Tsukushi hung her head lightly, letting all the fight out of her muscles. The guy, thinking that she'd given up laughed, calling out to his friend that she wasn't putting up a fight, when she wheeled her head back and shocked him enough to let go. She knew this guy from somewhere, she couldn't place him, but he was definitely familiar. He let go of his nose to show that it was already swelling if not broken.

"I like my girls with a little fight in them." He grinned, showing that the inside of his mouth was bleeding too.

Makino looked around them and the dance floor had all but emptied as the music stopped, but the party goers cheered on the fight. She looked over at Tsukasa who was holding his own... against three guys? Where the heck had the other two come from? She didn't have time to think as she dodged a punch that came from her blind side. This guy was cocky and she cursed as she saw two other guys join his side. How many of these parasites were going to come out of the wood work?

"You really shouldn't worry about your boyfriend." She saw that one of his buddies had taken his top and he flexed his muscles. That's when she saw the tattoo on his right bicep._ 'These guys are from the Yamaguchi family dojo. They were Hiro's biggest competition, financially and competitively, but what the hell is this all about? With Hiro dead they have nothing to gain from beating me!' _Tsukushi analyzed the situation. She could probably beat these guys and Tsukasa already had one beaten on the floor, but there had to be more to this than some peeing for distance competition. These guys were real fighters. Not like Eiji and his crew, these guys are all fight all day. They train until they're killers and then join the yakuza or the military. They are a family and it's all about honor, so what were they doing taking on a couple of kids? "You really shouldn't daydream, kitten!" She heard before she realized that she'd been thinking way too hard and didn't dodge an oncoming punch.

She didn't bother rubbing her cheek, she needed her hands free. "What's this about, Yamaguchi?"

They all seemed to still as she called it out to them. "You're just too good to pass up Takekado-san. Oh, my bad, you go by Makino now." He teased. A commotion was coming from the doors and four of the guys blew her a kiss before walking back into the crowd. Tsukasa looked winded, but still pissed off as the guys that he'd been fighting just retreated, leaving their friend that had passed out and the guy with the spiky hair behind.

"No hard feelings, Kitten, but you've just been knocked down a notch." He threw a punch and instinctively she blocked and threw her own.

"Stop right there." She closed her eyes as her fist connected with Yamaguchi's face. She didn't need to see who the new intruders were to know they were the cops. "Both of you get on the ground."

Tsukasa leaned into the personal space of the officer that was trying to cuff him. "Who do you think you're dealing with?" He practically growled. The older man looked quite intimidated and looked over at another officer for clarification on who he was supposed to be arresting.

"Take all four of them." The officer that was handcuffing Tsukushi said. She was resigned to her fate as they walked her past her boyfriend.

"_This_ is why I wanted to stay home."

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><p><strong>Review! Review! Review!<strong>

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	10. We Go Away

_Hello everybody! _Thanks to crsma2 for reviewing the last 2 chapters, kaitlynchosenisme welcome back, and as for you "Guest"... HI! I hope y'all like this chappy. I worked really hard.

I don't own HYD, as you should know. I never claimed to own it, duh. I do however own a fantastically crappy car that is...yes paid off... so wazup boi.

Just a little heads up; this is a very important chapter in my eyes. It is the story that ties in EVERYTHING that has happened and will happen. I used a LOT of pronouns and to me it makes perfect sense, but if you find it confusing please let me know so that I can figure out another way to write it. Personally I think it works just fine, but I know what I want it to say so it might be that I am too close to the situation to give an unbiased opinion.

By the way, this is really long by my normal writing standards. I couldn't decide where to cut it, so I didn't.

Anyway, thank you.

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><p>Chapter 10: We Go Away.<p>

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><p>It didn't take long for the squad car to make it to the precinct. Neither officer spoke as they stepped out of the car and collected their prisoner. It didn't take a genius to know that this had been a planned event. The officers had handcuffed her, but made sure to be gentle. They touched her as little as possible, a fact Tsukushi appreciated greatly, and they took her into an interrogation room instead of booking her for her crime. Once she'd been asked to sit down, she was uncuffed and left alone.<p>

The room was dark, save for a low watt overhead light. There was a large mirror along the main wall, she assumed it was a two-way mirror, and she shivered at the thought of being watched like an animal at a zoo. This office was nicer than the one they had used when she'd killed Hiro, but that had been in Sapporo, and she'd been arrested for murder, so it made sense she guessed. This time she assumed she was simply being detained.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She could imagine how Tsukasa was acting right now. He'd been all but ignored at the club. An officer had even threatened to arrest him after he'd punched another officer. If Tsukushi hadn't told him to go home and wait for her there, he'd probably be in a cell right now. She'd be surprised if her apartment wasn't in ruins with him throwing everything in sight to calm down. Especially with his anger boiling over the way it was. She sighed miserably. This was purposefully taking a long time, she could feel it.

The door opened and an officer ushered in the last person Tsukushi expected to see. Her eyes visibly widened and she sat momentarily slack jawed until she schooled her expression and stared at Tsubaki coldly. "Are you the one that did this?" Her voice was like ice. The sound even sent a chill down her own spine, but Tsubaki remained thoroughly detached. She took her seat with a poise learned over years of training and placed her purse on the desk.

"You had a deal with _my _father and you should honor it." Tsubaki reached in her purse and pulled out a large manila envelope. "In there is a boarding pass and your passport. I want you in New York and away from my little brother. The officers will take you to the airport in the morning." She pinned the younger brunette down with a glare.

"So you _did_ do this?" Tsukushi shook her head sadly and pushed the envelope back. "I'm not going anywhere. I made that deal with Tsubasa -oji. He's the only one that can enforce it. Besides, this was a set up. I did nothing wrong. You made those guys attack me."

Tsubaki looked scandalized and insulted. "You think I did what?" She rolled her eyes and practically snarled. "Sojirou called me and told me that you and Tsukasa were fighting some thugs at that club you were at. I simply called in a favor to the police not to arrest you. I promised them that I would deal with you and that's what I'm doing. I would never send anyone to attack you." She looked to the side as if ashamed of the accusation. "Besides, you were with Tsukasa and I would never put him in that kind of danger. You must really think me a monster to think that I'm capable of something that absurd."

It was true. Tsubaki loved Tsukasa almost as much as she hated Tsukushi. Besides, those thugs had been rather tough with Tsukasa and gentle with her. The guy knew that she was holding back and he held back as well. Tsubaki would have ordered it the other way. She would have had them subdue her brother and attack Tsukushi at full force. "I'm not going back to New York."

"Yes you are." A voice came from the door and both women jumped from the surprise, in the doorway stood an older man that they both knew well. Even in a white oxford, denim jeans and loafers he looked regal. His short brown hair was graying gently and his brown eyes looked tired. "We had a deal, Tsukushi. I know you're not foolish enough to try and backout of it."

Tsukushi looked away as he drew closer. Tsubaki could see that the teenager's whole demeanor changed instantly. Even though she was looking at the table, she could see sadness in the younger girl's eyes. There were unshed tears hanging on her lashes and pity climbed into her chest before she could stomp it out.

"I'm not leaving." The words were soft, but determined. Her head shot up and she stared defiantly at the looming presence of the only male in the room. "We had a deal. I behave and you let me be."

"Last time I checked, we are in a police station." He crossed his arms defensively. He knew this would be a battle. He came prepared.

"You set me up!" She tried to keep her voice from shouting, that never helped anyone's case, but she could never keep her control against this man.

"Who put you in a position to be set up? Did I do that as well?" He asked sarcastically.

"I can do without the contempt please." She battled back. "I see your point and I validate your feelings, however, please see my side of things. I was just going out to have fun with my friends."

"Boyfriend." The word was more of an accusation then a comment and he practically spat it like acid from his mouth.

Her eyes widened as realization hit her. "This is about Tsukasa?"

"Don't bring my brother into this." Tsubaki defended.

It was her turn to be burdened with the brunt force of the gentleman's disdain. "I see you still find yourself hiding him behind your skirt tales. Between you and Kaede, that boy is never going to be a man."

"That "man" is your heir." Tsubaki spat back.

"I would sooner sell everything and die penniless than let him be my heir. That "_boy_" is nothing." Tsubasa shouted angrily.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Tsukushi jumped out of her chair and pounded her fists against the table. "You have every right to be disappointed in me, but leave him out of this. Yes, he's my boyfriend." She raised her hands as if to stop an oncoming rant. "I know that you don't approve, but... but the truth is I love him and I'm not going to let you talk about him as if he's trash, because he's not." Her face was bright red with embarrassment at her admission, but she didn't back down.

"He's the product of trash, and that makes him trash." Tsubasa sneered and raised his hand to silence any further disputes. "The day you were born I promised your mother that I would protect you and I know that I've done a horrible job of it. I don't sleep at night knowing that I have failed you both, but I'm not going to stand here and keep making the same mistakes over and over. I know that I should have punched your grandfather in his face when he said I couldn't take you in with me. I should have fought in every court in every country until I had you with me, but I knew Kaede would tear you apart. I thought I was protecting you by letting Takekado raise you, but now we both have to live with the outcomes of those mistakes." He rubbed at his temples. "I'm tired Tsukushi. I just got off a fourteen hour flight and I'm facing another one in a few hours. This argument is over. It was foolish of me to let Kaede talk me into letting you enroll at Etioku and it was twice as stupid of me to let you keep seeing that boy after I found out that you were meeting with him. We're leaving now."

"I have to say goodbye." She looked at him pleadingly and then looked at Tsubaki as if looking for help.

"That will just complicate things." He watched her unwaveringly and she knew she only had one weapon left in her arsenal.

Nothing else would work, so she swallowed her pride and made the face that always worked when she was a child. "Please." She felt like the words were stuck in her throat. "Please Dad... _Daddy_, please let me at least say goodbye." The tear that rolled down her cheek was unexpected, but Tsukushi knew it could only help her cause.

"YOU HAVE THE NERVE!" Tsubaki practically swallowed her tongue, but Tsubasa's hand on her shoulder quieted her instantly. Her words died in her mouth, but she still fumed and glared at her half sister.

The tired look in Tsubasa's eyes seemed to age him. He unfolded his arms and placed his hands on the table, before he stepped away and brought over another chair. He sat down heavily with a deep sigh. "I never thought that I would love anyone more than your mother, Tsukushi. That is until you were born. When I saw those big brown eyes looking up at me I knew that I'd be useless against them."

Tsubaki sat stunned. She'd never seen her father look this bedraggled. He'd always been a pillar of strength and the model of control. As he sat there thinking of what to say to his youngest daughter, she wondered if he'd ever lost even a moment of sleep for her. Had she been the rebellious one, would he have even batted an eyelash? She shivered at the thought and it twisted in her gut. She'd always done everything her mother had told her to do. She had sacrificed her own dreams and her chances at love to make her father proud, happy... notice. Her fists balled up unnoticed on the table as the anger flamed within her. That's why she hated this girl. That's why she could never even fake an ounce of compassion for her. They shared a father, that was true, but they definitely didn't share his love. Tsukushi had it all and she didn't even appreciate it.

"I respect that you _think _you love him." He raised his hand again to stop the words on her lips. "That is why I'm going to make another deal." He paused to make sure he had both of their attentions. "I will give you two hours to say goodbye to that boy. If you do not come willingly, after those two hours I will have one of my men enter the apartment and forcibly bring you to the airport. If you can do that, if you leave willingly, I will get _us_ an apartment anywhere that you want. You will have NO interactions with that boy or any of his friends until you graduate college. If you still want to be with him, if you and he haven't moved on by then, I will allow you to discuss a possible relationship at that time."

A smirk tilted her lips and she rested her chin on her fist. "I didn't say I wanted to marry him."

His hand flew to his chest and a scowl furrowed his brows. "Please don't talk about stupid things. I never said I would entertain a marriage. I said a relationship. Actually, I'm praying that he'll cheat on you long before you graduate high school."

Tsubaki practically growled. "My brother isn't the whore you were." She barely bit back anything further.

If the other two occupants in the room heard it, they didn't react to it; instead Tsubasa stood from his chair and looked at his watch. "It's 2:33, your two hours started three minutes ago."

Tsukushi shot up from her chair and ran to the door. "Not fair, _Tsubasa-oji_, I won't honor the two hours or our deal until I get out of here." She called as she ran out the room.

Tsubasa chuckled dryly as he too walked out of the room, turning to address his eldest daughter. "It's so cute when she thinks she has a choice." Without waiting for a reply he left the room and Tsubaki in it.

* * *

><p>The phone rang several times before a gravelly and sleep laced voice barked a gruff hello.<p>

"Where are you?"

"Makino? Where are _you_? Did they let you out of prison?" Doumyouji asked confused and slightly panicked, his sleep addled brain didn't help at all.

"I wasn't in prison, you dummy, I was at a police station. Besides, I really don't have time to explain, where are you?" She answered as she slid into the back of Tsubasa's limo that sat idling outside the station.

She could practically imagine her boyfriend rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. "I'm at your place."

"Thank you for listening to me." She smiled despite the situation. "Stay awake. I'm on my way."

* * *

><p>Makino checked her watch as she made it to her front door. Just under 90 minutes 'til she had to be back. She rested her head against the door with a soft thud. How was she going to do this? How do you say goodbye to someone you love, when there's a good chance this will be the last time you see them?<p>

The door opened and she almost fell in, but strong arms wrapped around her to bear her weight. "I thought I heard someone at the door." Tsukasa's voice seemed to drape around her and make her feel warm.

She couldn't stop it, or control it, and she knew that this was probably the worst time for it, but she started crying. An overwhelming sense of loss just hit her like a wave and she knew that this was the last time that she'd be held in his arms so gently. That this was the last time that he'd look at her so concerned and sound so panicked to see her tears. After tonight he'd hate her. After tonight he'll feel like she'd betrayed him. That's how Doumyouji lived his life. There were no patches of gray. Everything was black and white. You either left or you stayed, you either loved or you hated and she knew what side she was going to be standing on. Come morning, she'd be on the side that fought against him.

He held her tighter and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "Makino, what's wrong, what happened?"

The sobs slowly ebbed as she pulled herself together. She could cry later. She knew she would, but now her time was slowly dwindling and it'd be time to go before she knew it. "Tsukasa..." She lifted her arms slowly and wrapped them around his neck. If she couldn't have him forever, then she'd at least have this memory. She'd have this night. Cuddling and watching a movie, dancing at the club, fighting side by side and this. "Tsukasa." She whispered so softly she wasn't sure if he heard her. "I love you." His eyes widened as he looked down at her in his arms. "You know almost nothing about me and I want to tell you everything, but it's going to eat away at time we don't have." She pulled him down and kissed him, catching him off guard. Tsukushi pulled away and directed Tsukasa to the couch. "My mother was in love with a guy since middle school. She had been his girlfriend for years, but then in their second year of high school she met a girl from Canada that had exchanged into their school. She befriended the girl and pulled her into her circle of friends, but just before graduation the girl backstabbed her and secured an arranged marriage with my mother's boyfriend. The relationship didn't end their though. Her boyfriend didn't love his fiancée, he loved my mother and they kept their relationship hidden, even after he got married."

Tsukasa nodded and she continued. "My mother hated herself for being the other woman, she tried to stay away from her boyfriend, but she loved him very much. When she found out that this guy and his wife were expecting a child her heart broke and she told her father to arrange a marriage with anyone, she didn't care, she just wanted to put the past behind her and move on, but she couldn't. Her boyfriend kept coming to see her. He kept the attraction going, the flame burning, and his wife knew. She hated my mother, but she knew she never had her husband's heart. His wife grew cold and bitter and in some kind of twisted revenge she cheated on her husband, but she made a bid mistake." Tsukushi lifted her hands to Tsukasa's face and rested her forehead on his. "She got pregnant." Leaning forward she kissed Tsukasa again, longer and with more of her heart.

"The wife explained to her husband what she did, what had happened and that she knew that he had been unfaithful all along. She threatened to take half of the company and trash his name. I don't know if it was because he was spineless or if he really had no alternative, but he gave his name to his wife's child and in return she let him leave. They were still married, but he was free to have his relationship with my mother, whose husband was dying from kidney failure. After so long, they were finally going to be together, even if it was still only in secret. Six months after her husband died my mother found out that she was pregnant with me. Her boyfriend was over the moon, but reality set in. She was having his baby, but he was married to another woman. They had to keep everything behind closed doors and my grandfather hated him for it. He fought tooth and nail for my mother to leave this man. He even went as far as to go to the young man's father for help to keep his son away from my mother. Nothing worked. They were determined to be together, but in the end my mother gave me her husband's name. That's why I'm a Makino."

"Why are you telling me this Tsukushi?" Tsukasa lovingly place his hand on her shoulder, his confusion clear on his face.

"It's something you need to know." She lifted herself until she straddled his lap. "You need to know everything about me before we go any further. I need you to know about my father. I make more sense if you know about him. He raised me with my mother. We were a happy family. It didn't bother me that my name was Makino and his name wasn't. It never even occurred to me to question it, but when I was nine my mother drowned while we were on vacation. She got pulled under by a rip tide and she couldn't get back up. I didn't really know how to handle it, but my father was there and he tried to help me through it. At the funeral, my grandfather and his lawyers came and took me. They said my father had no rights to me, because I was the daughter of my mother's dead husband. My grandfather challenged my dad to fight him in court. All he had to do was prove that he was my father, all he had to do was tell the truth, but my grandfather said that he never would because if he did, his "real" wife would ruin him."

Tsukushi hugged Tsukasa like a life line. She buried her face into the crook of his neck as she bit back the tears that fought to spill. "He didn't, 'Kasa. He didn't try to fight my grandfather. He just watched me leave. I barely knew this old man, I had seen him from time to time, but I wanted to be with my father. My grandfather was stern and strict. He tried to give me the discipline that he felt he had failed to give his own daughter. It wasn't long until his health started to fail though, it was expected he was an older gentleman, but that left me with Hiro."

She felt Tsukasa's grip tighten around her waist and lifted her head to look into his eyes. "At first he only trained me in martial arts. He hit me hard, he didn't hold anything back. Most nights I would go to sleep with the maids keeping icepacks on my bruises. He broke my arm twice and both bones in my right leg. After a while the pain didn't even register and it became a way for me to forget. When Hiro was beating the crap out of me I wasn't thinking about losing my mother or father and I wasn't thinking about how alone I was. I was thinking about how to get out of this submission move or how to tear into my opponent. I got really good at fighting, but that's when I realized the pain wasn't there anymore."

Tsukushi opened the buttons on her blouse and let the material slip off her shoulder and pool onto the floor behind her. "When fighting didn't give me what I needed, I started cutting myself." She looked away ashamed, but she didn't stop. She showed her arms and the littering of thin scars all over. "I needed something to calm me down. I would have these panic attacks and Hiro would punch me until I stopped. One night I was in my bathroom cutting and he walked in. He started yelling and grabbed me up off the floor and threw my in the dojo. He started hitting me and I couldn't focus. I couldn't get a grip on what was happening and I grabbed one of the free weights and just smacked him with it. Even after he hit the floor I just kept hitting him with it until one of the maids pulled me off of him."

"I went to jail for killing him, but my father fought to have me evaluated by a doctor and I was moved to a mental hospital instead. I spent a little over a year there. On medication and other therapies, but in the end my father fought to have me released into his custody, but I couldn't look at him without wanting to vomit. Every time I saw him I hated him more and eventually tried to kill myself. After I was released from the hospital it was agreed that I needed to stay somewhere else and I begged to him to allow me to come here. My father let your mother arrange everything and that's when I made the deal with Tsubasa-oji. As long as I stayed out of trouble I could stay here, but if I couldn't, I would have to go live in New York or go back to jail."

Tsukasa shook his head gently, still just as confused as before. "I still don't get it though. Why tell me all of this tonight? It's like three in the morning; couldn't this have waited until tomorrow?"

"I'm leaving in about an hour." She answered truthfully. "I made a deal and it earned me two hours to come say goodbye."

The fury in his eyes was molten. He practically threw her off of him the way he grabbed her arms. "You can't be serious!" He all but roared. "How can you look at me so calm and say that you're leaving in a few minutes? Are you kidding with me, Makino, because it's not funny?"

She grabbed his cheeks and placed her forehead back on his. "I'm not kidding." She held tightly when he started to fight her. "I love you, Tsukasa, that's why I'm here. That's why I begged to have this time with you. I need you in my life, I know I do because not since my mother died have I been so happy. You make me so happy. I feel like I'm alive when I'm with you and you have no idea how dead I've been. My skin crawls when anyone tries to touch me, but when you touch me it puts me at ease. I constantly feel like I'm on pins and needles, like I'm not comfortable in my own skin, but with you all of that goes away. Since I've been with you, as your girlfriend, I haven't even thought about cutting myself. I haven't had a panic attack since the first night I came here. I have to go and believe me, it's killing me, but I have no way around it. It's either do what he says or go back to jail and believe me my father will send me back to jail just to prove a point. He's an asshole and I hate him, but I am under his authority."

"So, what? What do we do? Am I just supposed to act like this doesn't hurt me? Am I supposed to just move on? How can you expect me to stop loving you?" He held her tightly, pulling her into his arms as if he could hide her inside himself.

She started with kisses to his jaw and with featherlight nips she trailed a path down his neck. She nibbled at the flesh just above his shoulder. "I... can't... ask you... to wait... for me..." She arched into his touch when he started to copy her actions. "I know it's selfish, but I don't want you to stop loving me." He kissed her passionately, stealing the words from her mouth. He didn't want to talk anymore. He wanted to imprint this girl on him. He wanted any man who ever looked at her to know that she belonged to Doumyouji Tsukasa. He wanted her to know that she belonged to him.

He looked up at her, maybe out of habit, maybe out of instinct, but she looked more beautiful than she ever had before and he almost whimpered at the sight. "I want to make you mine tonight." She sighed into his ministrations.

He groaned in response before dipping down to her ear and whispering, "I've always been yours."

She didn't let him say anything more before she reached up and pressed her lips to his. She licked at the seam of his lips and took charge of the kiss. She had to make him realize that this was a kiss that would change everything. He picked her up, her legs around his hips, and made his way to her room.

He pulled away from her just long enough to latch onto her throat. The sounds she made helped to encourage his movements. He knew how to make out with a girl, he knew about the "bases" and he knew about the dynamics of sex. He'd never done it himself, but he was waiting for someone that he loved. He was waiting for someone that didn't care that he was rich, wasn't after something, and most importantly, someone that loved him back.

As he laid her down on the bed and pulled his shirt over his head, he knew that this was his someone. It didn't matter if she said goodbye after tonight, because it wouldn't be for long. They would make it work. They had cell phones and email and video chats. It would be as if they went away to college. People made long distance relationships work all the time. He would just have to find his way to her. Even if he had to tear into his pride and ask his father for help, he would. He was sure, that this wasn't the last time that he was going to be with his Tsukushi, because there was no one in the world that he could love more than this girl.

* * *

><p>The flight attendant was waiting for her at the base of the stairs when she arrived at the plane. She helped Tsukushi board as she offered drinks and snacks before disappearing into the back galley of the plane. Noticing the only other passenger in the cabin Makino took the seat beside him.<p>

"You're late. I hope that you weren't in a precarious position when my men went in to help you." Tsubasa commented over the file he was reading.

"You and I both know that you don't want to know about the illicit things I was doing with your stepson." She smirked at the glare she received for her choice of words, but she reached over and placed her hand on the top of the file, grabbing his attention. "You said anywhere I wanted to go, right?" She waited for the noncommittal "Hn" as a response. "We're going back to New York."

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes in suspicion; he pulled the file away from her reach and went back to reading it. "You said you'd rather die, in a very literal sense, than go back to New York. I don't think that's the best choice."

Fed up with his blatant dismissal, she fully turned in her seat to face him and snatched the file away before closing it at her side. "You're a man that likes to make deals, so let's make some adjustments to the one we have. My birthday is in just over six months. I will do **everything **that you tell me to do until then and when I turn 18, I want you to name me president of Takekado Worldwide. I am the heiress and I want to take my place."

Tsubasa couldn't hide his surprise. He seemed to debate the proposition and weigh his options before coming to a decision. "Why the sudden interest in Takekado Worldwide? You made it very clear that you didn't want anything to do with New York, the Takekado name, or anything to do with me for that matter. Now all of a sudden you want to go back, be named heiress, and you want me to help you do these things. You haven't even graduated high school and you plan to take over the board of directors? Let's be serious."

"That's why I said that I would do everything that you tell me to. I need to be ready to take on the board and be the best CEO that Takekado needs me to be. As far as the why, it's because I don't trust you. Plain and simple, I think you're a liar. You gave me assurances that you personally reneged on and you've abandoned me when I've needed you before. That's reason enough in my book to look for a way to provide for myself. If you ever want to earn my respect you need to do your part, and right now your part is being my father. Teach me everything you know and let me take my rightful place with my "real" family." She narrowed her eyes, challenging him to contradict her.

"This is not going to be easy. You _will _do _everything _I say." He placed his hand out for his file, which she returned. "First order of business, that boy is out-"

"Out of the picture, done, like it never happened and from now on he's no one to me. He's just someone that _you_ used to know." Turning to look out the window, Tsukushi bit her lip. It would be hard, but not impossible. As president it would take her a year, at the most, to take over her grandfather's company. First thing she had to do was dissolve all contracts with Doumyouji Corp, secondly start to slowly buyout stock from Tsubasa and then get him voted off of the board of directors. Once he was out of the picture than she had free reign. She swiped at the tear that threatened to fall from her eye and swallowed thickly around the lump that was forming in her throat. She told Tsukasa that she couldn't ask him to wait for her, but that she hoped he would. With everything that she was going to have to pull, she wondered what obstacles her father and his pretty little wife were going to place in her way.

* * *

><p><strong>Review! Review! Review!<strong>

You're already down here... And fanfiction has made it ridiculously easy now. The box is right there. Why not say "Hi!" like guest did.

BTW I proofed it twice and I didn't see any errors. Let me know if you did.


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